This handsome Common Green Darner dragonfly (Anax junius) does not have all of the colors of the rainbow, but it does have many of them and I love its mix of vibrant colors. The dragonfly was perched vertically really low in the vegetation when I spotted it during a recent to Occoquan Regional Park. I ended up sprawled almost flat on the ground to get this shot—my position would have made for an amusing photo, but fortunately no one else was around to capture that moment.
Mature male Common Green Darners have bright blue abdomens. The reddish pink color of this dragonfly’s abdomen suggest to me that it is an immature male. Early and late in the season, the abdomens of male Common Green Darners may appear purple. Common Green Darners have dark-colored platelets in their blood that rise to the surface when it is cold, darkening their abdomen color and attracting more sun. On bright, hot days, those dark platelets sink, and the abdomen turns bright blue again, now reflecting light.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Beautiful species. Great shot.
Thanks, Michael.
You’re welcome, Mike.
This is one amazing shot 👏👏👏👏
Thanks, Ted. I had to move about quite a bit to get a relatively unobstructed shot through the vegetation. When I shot from a higher angle, too much of the dragonfly’s body was out of focus, so I tried to get as parallel with its body as I could.
Ooooo, fantastic.
Thanks. It is so cool when I manage to get a shot of this colorful dragonfly species–most of the times that I see them they are flying high overhead.