On Monday I was thrilled to spot this Prince Baskettail dragonfly (Epitheca cynosura) flying patrols over the small pond at Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge. Previously I had spotted Common Baskettails doing the same thing at this location—see my recent posting Common Baskettails in flight—but they seem to have been supplanted by the Prince Baskettails. How do you tell them apart? Although they are both part of the Emerald family, only Prince Baskettails have patterned wings, as you can see in these photos.
I really like the description of this species on the Dragonflies of Northern Virginia website:
“This sleek, elegant dragonfly could in fact be called King Baskettail, as it is the largest member of the Emerald family. There are seven families of dragonflies in the US–Emeralds are known for their glowing green eyes (hence the family name), and their endless, acrobatic flight. Like other members of this family, Prince Baskettails rarely land and can spend many hours in ceaseless flight. Look for this powerful flier making long, repeated, low patrols over open water habitats such as lakes, ponds, canals, and sluggish river sections.”
As a result of the repeated patrols, I was able to track the dragonfly as it flew by me and capture these images. The dragonfly did not get really close to the bank on which I was standing, so my autofocus would not detect my subject and I had to resort to focusing manually. I am pretty happy with the results and I encourage you to click on the images to see the beautiful markings on the body of this Prince Baskettail dragonfly.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Very nice in-flight shots, Mike!
Thanks, Wally. I have seen some indications that the focusing systems on some of the newest mirrorless cameras might make it a little easier to focus on dragonflies in flight, but for now I am content to use a more primitive approach with my trusty Canon 7D. 🙂