Many summer dragonfly species are now emerging on the scene, like this immature male Widow Skimmer dragonfly (Libellula luctuosa) that I spotted last Tuesday at Occoquan Regional Park in Lorton, Virginia.
Anecdotally, someone thought that these dragonflies appeared to be draped in mourning crepe and that is the source of the “widow” in the name of the species. The Loudon Wildlife Conservancy website states that “This dragonfly got the “widow” name because, unlike most other dragonfly species where the male stays near the female after she lays the eggs, the male in this pair leaves her after the eggs have been laid.” Either explanation is plausible, though I have seen more references to the first explanation than the second one.
I was quite fortunate that the dragonfly chose a high perch that allowed me to separate it from the rest of the background. Quite a few of the dragonflies that I have photographed recently have perched on the ground or in dense vegetation and the backgrounds in those photos have been quite cluttered.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Awesome 👌
Thanks, Michael.
You’re welcome.
A beautiful specimen from the Libellulidae family. We have a lot of Libellula depressa in Belgium.
Thanks, Rudi. Whenever I travel, I love to have a chance to see local dragonfly species. Many of them are members of the same families as those that I see locally, but are different species. I looked up the Libellula depressa and it looks a little like some of the dragonflies that I am used to seeing.
Superb images, Mike! I love seeing the distinct details from both perspectives.
Thanks. I try to get shots from as many different perspectives as I can for the very reason that you note–you can see different aspects of the subject from different angles and I never know for sure which one will work out best.
Awesome.