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Posts Tagged ‘Orange Bluet damselfly’

Confrontational damselfly

Posted in damselfly, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on May 30, 2023| 5 Comments »

This little damselfly is called an Orange Bluet (Enallagma signatum). Yes, the name is confusing and seems to be a bit of an oxymoron. Most bluets have various patterns of blue and black on their bodies, but surprisingly there are also bluets that are patterned predominantly in red, orange, yellow, green or black. The male Orange Bluet adopted a seemingly confrontational pose and stared right at me as I prepared to photograph him last Thursday at Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge—maybe he felt the need to defend his territory.

I would have liked to have captured an eye-to-eye shot, but was afraid of scaring away the damselfly if I bent down closer to it, so took the shot from a downward angle. Although a substantial part of the Orange Bluet’s body is out of focus in this image, I think the shot worked out ok, owing largely to the fact that the damselfly’s eyes were in focus. The curve of the stalk on which it was perched was a nice bonus and added some visual interest to the shot.

Orange Bluet

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Orange Bluet (Male)

Posted in damselfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on July 10, 2022| 3 Comments »

I love the distinctive coloration of Orange Bluet damselflies (Enallagma signatum), whose name always causes me to smile at the apparent oxymoron. How can a bluet be orange? As the name “bluet” suggests, most of the 35 members of the genus American Bluet (Enallagma), the largest damselfly genus in North America, are blue. However, certain species come in other colors including red, orange, and green and the Rainbow Bluet combines red, yellow, and green.

I spotted this handsome male Orange Bluet last Wednesday as he was perching on a lily pad in a small pond at Green Spring Gardens. He posed beautifully for me and I was able to capture quite a few details of this little damselfly. I recommend that you click on the image to get a closer look at this Orange Blue, including his wonderful orange markings.

Orange Bluet

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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In a galaxy far, far away…

Posted in damselfly, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Summer, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on August 23, 2021| 18 Comments »

As I glanced down at the dark waters of the pond last Thursday at Huntley Meadows Park, a damselfly couple (Orange Bluets (Enallagma signatum), I think) flew by in tandem and I snapped this shot. I love how it looks like we are peering into a night sky, watching the damselflies fly past the celestial bodies of the Milky Way.

I couldn’t help but think about the opening title sequence from the Star Wars movies that begins with the words, “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away….”

Orange Bluet

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Orange Bluet in September

Posted in Autumn, damselfly, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on September 21, 2020| 22 Comments »

Roses are red and bluets are blue, except when the bluets are damselflies, when they might be a different color. Last week while photowalking at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, fellow dragonfly enthusiast Walter Sanford pointed out this Orange Bluet damselfly (Enallagma signatum) that was perched in a tree just above eye level. As he pulled back a branch that was blocking my view, I was able to get this unobstructed shot of the beautiful little damselfly.

You might think that the bright coloration of this damselfly would make it easy to spot, but Orange Bluers are small, less than an inch and a half (38 mm) in length, and elusive. I am lucky if I manage to spot a couple of them during an entire season, so I was thankful for Walter’s sharp eyes.

This Orange Bluet, I think, would make a good mascot for the autumn season, when oranges and browns begin to dominate the natural and manmade landscape and the stores are filled with decorations for Halloween and Thanksgiving. I suspect that some stores are already starting to decorate for Christmas, but I am not ready to give up on the waning moments of summer—for some of us, tomorrow is the autumnal equinox, the first day of fall.

Orange Bluet

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Orange Bluets in tandem

Posted in damselfly, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on August 22, 2020| 12 Comments »

I love the distinctive coloration of Orange Bluet damselflies (Enallagma signatum), whose name always causes me to smile at the apparent oxymoron. I spotted this couple in tandem earlier in August at Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge. Many damselflies remain in this position after they have completed mating, with the male at the top attached to the female as she deposits her eggs.

As the name “bluet” suggests, most of the 35 members of the genus American Bluet (Enallagma), the largest damselfly genus in North America, are blue. However, certain species come in other colors including red, orange, and green and the Rainbow Bluet combines red, yellow, and green.

 

Orange Bluet

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Orange Bluet damselfly

Posted in damselfly, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, spring, tagged , , , , , , on June 1, 2020| 17 Comments »

Names can sometimes be misleading. There is a genus of damselflies, consisting of 35 species, called American bluets. As the common name “bluet” suggests, most members of the genus are primarily blue in color. One notable exception is the adult male Orange Bluet (Enallagma signatum) that often does not appear to have even a speck of blue on its body.

I spotted this little guy last Friday at Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge and was a bit shocked by his bright red eyes when I looked through the viewfinder of the camera. The male Orange Bluet was perched at the extreme end of some vegetation overhanging a pond.

I would have liked to have gotten a shot in which more of its body was in focus, but I did not want to risk falling in the water, which looked to be pretty deep at that spot. As I look at the photo now, I realize that the soft focus of the body may actually be a good thing, because it draws a viewer’s attention even more to the eyes of the handsome little damselfly.

orange bluet

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Orange Bluet

Posted in Dragonflies, Humor, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on August 23, 2014| 12 Comments »

I know that damselflies come in many colors, but my brain wanted to cramp up when I was told that this stunning orange damselfly was a bluet. An orange bluet? Aren’t bluets blue?

Apparently that is not always the case, and this little beauty is in fact a male Orange Bluet damselfly (Enallagma signatum). This shot looks like it was done with flash, but I double checked the EXIF data and confirmed that it was simply an effect caused simply by using exposure compensation and metering carefully on the subject. Normally, I am not a big fan of a black background, which can be caused when the light from the flash overpowers the ambient light, but I think that it works well in this shot, which looks almost like it was shot in a studio.

In the second shot, the brown color of the muddy water shows through in a way that is a little more natural. I took this shot when the damselfly was farther away than in the first shot and I like the way that it shows a bit more of the environment than in the first image.

One of the advantages of shooting in bright light and on a tripod was that I was able to shoot at ISO 100 and at f/11, which gave me images that were a lot cleaner than I often get.

orange1_blogorange2_blog

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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