I love to look closely at dragonfly wings. I have a mental picture of the cells of a dragonfly wing as being made up of regularly-shaped squares, like those on a page of graph paper. When I examine them in real life, though, I am always delighted to see all of the different shapes and sizes of these tiny cells in intricate patterns that rival those of massive stained-glass windows.
I photographed this male Widow Skimmer dragonfly (Libellula luctuosa) last Thursday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I love to see dragonflies with patterned wings and the males of this species have the added bonus of having both brown and white patterns on each wing.
This dragonfly was relatively cooperative and did not fly away as I moved slowly into a position that gave me a good view of the wings. I had to bend and crouch a little to get this shot that emphasizes the impressive wingspan of this handsome little dragonfly.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Lovely capture Mike.
Awesome.