I was delighted to spot this female Lancet Clubtail dragonfly (Phanogomphus exilis) on Thursday in Prince William County, the first member of this species that I have seen this season. She seemed to be glancing upwards at me as she smiled and posed for me.
When I was doing some research on this species, I got a little confused, because sometimes the Latin name for the species was given as Phanogomphus exilis and sometimes as Gomphus exilis. As far as I can understand it, the Lancet Clubtail used to be included in Gomphus genus. However, according to Wikipedia, “As a result of phylogenetic studies, Gomphus subgenera Gomphurus, Hylogomphus, Phanogomphus, and Stenogomphus were elevated in rank to genus in 2017. With the removal of their member species, Gomphus ended up with 11 of its previous 54 species, none of which are found in the Western Hemisphere.” Yikes!
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Yikes, indeed!
Very nice captures, Mike, and nicely posed with a bit of shadow on that well formed leaf.
Thank you, Mike, for your beautiful photos! I am forwarding some of them to my brother, Rob Howland, NMH ’73.
Judy Howland NSFG ’61
Thanks so much, Judith, for your kind words and for sharing the info about Mary Holland. Her approach is similar to my own in the sense that she enjoys following the changes over time at a single location vice traveling to new location all of the time. Some have called the former “living deeply” and the latter “living widely.” Neither approach is inherently better, but they are definitely different. I have also looked through some of the images of Roger Irwin and am really impressed by his work and the incredible amount of work that his images reflect. Nature photographers have to spend huge amounts of time out in the field to capture their images, working in environments they cannot control and with subjects that are usually skittish and uncooperative.
Mike, “living deeply” and “living widely” are new terms to me and I’m sure I’ll think more about those as general concepts.. they’re very interesting!!!
I can’t remember, Liz, where I first came across this idea, but it resonated deeply with me. Folks ask me quite often why I am content to go the same handful of locations over and over again and I try to explain to them that each experience is new. I don’t feel a need to travel thousands of miles to have new experiences. When I go on vacation I prefer to stay in one place and explore it deeply, rather than wear myself out trying to visit lots of locations. It’s one of the reasons why I would be a frustrating travel companion for most people. People are different and some of us are a bit more insistent about marching to the beat of a different drummer. 🙂
Thank you. You’re blessed with many wondrous and beautiful creatures in the area where you live, and some perhaps not so beautiful but still very interesting! Take care.
Mike: Here is the blog of Vermont naturalist and photographer Mary Holland. I wanted to tell you about her work, but I didn’t catch up with you again @ NMH reunion last weekend.
I also wanted to tell you about nature photographer Roger Irwin, whose work frequently appears in *Northern Woodlands *magazine.
Judy Howland, NSFG ’61
Very nice Lancet Clubtail Dragonfly images Mike!!
Thought you might find this interesting.
Judy Howland