I know that summer is almost here when I start to see Blue Dasher dragonflies (Pachydiplax longipennis) at my local ponds and they will some become our the most abundant dragonfly species in our area. Mature Male Blue Dashers are blue, as their name suggests, but females have a black and yellow pattern on their abdomens, like the one pictured below that I photographed on Tuesday at Jackson Mile Abbott Wetland Refuge.
Quite often Blue Dashers perch on vegetation in the “obelisk” pose, with their abdomens raised up into an almost vertical position. It is thought that this pose is a type of thermoregulation, with the raised abdomen reducing the amount of exposure to the direct sunlight and thereby keeping the dragonfly’s body a bit cooler.
Blue Dashers are sentimentally special to me because my very first posting on this blog on July 7, 2012 featured a male Blue Dasher dragonfly in an obelisk pose. In case you are curious, here is a link to that posting that was simply entitled Blue Dasher dragonfly.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Oh, how funny and interesting, Mike!
Blue Rock HorsesFrederick County, Virginiabluerockhorses.com
<
div dir=”ltr”>
Thanks, Mitzy. I run across some crazy and quirky things in nature (and in trying to research my subjects on the internet) and love to share some of those tidbits along with my photos.