Black and Yellow Swallowtails feeding at a robust stand of Butterfly Bush
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, Charleston, SC
May 2, 2023
Swallowtail Butterflies on Butterfly Bush
Category Archives: Insects
Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly And Prey
An Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly perched on a leaf with a potential Mayfly snack on the underside.
A few minutes before I had watched another one of these damselflies chase a Mayfly. They both exhibited serious flying skills and that time the Mayfly prevailed. Here, I wondered if the damselfly knew the Mayfly was there.
Francis Beidler Forest, SC
April 7, 2023
Dragonfly and Shadow
A few dragonflies were perching on these giant leaves, which I believe are Powdery Alligator-flag.
The dragonfly, a Blue Dasher? I didn’t get a good enough image of his abdomen to see if there were stripes. The Great Blue Skimmer is described as “very large” … the Blue Dasher as “small.” Hmmm.
Magnolia Plantation & Gardens, Charleston, SC
April 12, 2023
Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly, Sparkly
An Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly, perhaps recently emerged based on the translucence of the wings.
Unfortunately his head isn’t in sharp focus, but the wings and shadow are interesting.
Francis Beidler Forest, SC
April 7, 2023
Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly, Open And Shut
If you wait long enough an Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly will open and close its wings.
Their outsized heads tend to make nice shadows in the right light.
Wings closed is their most common position when I have seen them.
They do chose some interesting leaves to land on, including this poison ivy.
Francis Beidler Forest, SC
March 31, 2023
Silver-spotted Skipper On Purple Iris
One of my favorite flowers decorated by a butterfly
Middleton Place, Charleston, SC
April 6, 2023
Eastern Pondhawk Dragonfly on Limbs
Eastern Pondhawk Dragonflies are ground perchers and are often well camouflaged by fallen leaves and other detritus.
This one nicely posed up on two different fallen tree branches.
Magnolia Plantation & Gardens, Charleston, SC
March 30, 2023
Dragonfly, Perched on a Vine
Two years ago fellow blogger and dragonfly enthusiast Mike Powell (https://michaelqpowell.com/) identified a similar sighting of mine as “probably a juvenile female Great Blue Skimmer.”
I’m not much further along identifying dragonflies than I was then, especially females and juveniles.
I do like to photograph them even if I don’t know what they are, and liked the three different background options this one gave me.
Magnolia Plantation & Gardens, Charleston, SC
March 30, 2023
Dragonfly Emergence
I had never seen a dragonfly emerge and was pretty surprised to see this at my eye height. The emergence process was nearly over when I passed by. The dragonfly was likely waiting for his wings to harden and he didn’t move at all for the two or three minutes I watched.
Audubon Center at Beidler Forest, Harleyville, SC
March 30, 2023
Juvenile Blue Corporal Dragonfly
We’ve had some nights below freezing recently, and the day I took these didn’t get much above the mid 50s (10 C) so I was surprised to see any dragonfly.
I spent some time with my “Dragonflies and Damselflies of the East” book and searching online. I did not even come up with Blue Corporal as a possibility.
The ID was provided by Odonata of the Eastern United States Facebook group, with one very confident ID as a Juvenile male Blue Corporal Dragonfly, with several assents.
Audubon Center at Beidler Forest, Harleyville, SC
March 19, 2023