I am a little late in finding my first dragonflies of 2025, but on Wednesday (15 April) I finally spotted some Blue Corporals (Ladona deplanata) at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. As an added bonus, the first image also shows a metallic-green Six-spotted Tiger Beetle (Cicindela sexguttata) that was crawling past the dragonfly.
Blue Corporals, one of the first dragonflies to emerge in the spring, are relatively easy to identify because they have two stripes of their shoulders—two stripes is the traditional marking for the rank of corporal in the armed forces. When they first emerge, males and females have similar colorations, but the males turn blue as they mature. Judging from the shape of their terminal appendages, I believe that the dragonflies in the first two images are females and the one in the final photo is an immature male.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Yay! 👏👏👏Blue Rock HorsesFrederick County, Virginiabluerockhorses.com
Oh so wonderful to have the first dragonfly of the spring upon us with your beautiful photos, Mike. Really enjoyed the details on the blue corporals and was also dazzled by the Six-spotted Tiger Beetle. Happy spring to you!
Thanks so much, Jet. You know how special dragonflies are to me, so you can understand my excitement in photographing my first one this year. I hope your spring is going well, Happy Easter!
Yeah. I hope to find some odonates soon then.
Great finds, Mike!