I took these two images on different days, but not from each other in June of 2019.
Both dragonflies lined up with the leaf to land, but the second one seems more at rest, with his whole body settled.
Eastern Pondhawk on Diagonal
Tag Archives: Insect
Gulf Fritillary on Statice
This was the first Gulf Fritillary I’ve seen this summer, one of just a few total butterflies I’ve noticed.
The wild purple statice, a non-native that grows along roadsides, in disturbed areas and old fields, seems to be thriving everywhere.
This stand of statice was along the side of a pond and the butterfly worked the tops, the road and pond side, and down into the depths of the plant which in some places was over my head.
June 26, 2020
Donnelley Wildlife Management Area, SC
Dragonfly, Back Yard
I’m not sure why dragonflies bother with these hard shelled insects, not sure just what they are.
They are pretty small and I think the dragonfly was having a hard time getting it down, chewing and chewing.
Our back yard has hosted a variety of dragonflies this summer. They take advantage of a few fallen branches I’ve left in the corner.
Damselfly In Grass
I recently spotted this Damselfly while walking a dike along the Ashley River and it stayed still once it found a perch, long enough for me to try manual focusing.
I’m also trying out Topaz Lab’s Sharpen AI software and am pretty amazed with the additional detail it pulled out around the damselfly’s head and along the wings, without looking overcooked.
Katydid
Katydids are also known as Long-horned Grasshoppers. This one must have been content with his Day Lily perch as he was still there when I moved on after taking several images.
I had no idea that I wasn’t capturing the entire length of the antennae on the closeups. It’s not real clear, but if you zoom in you can see the curled end of the antennae below the tip of the flower petal.
Great Blue Skimmer Dragonfly
This Great Blue Skimmer Dragonfly landed on a tangle of twigs, just at my eye level.
His legs entwined with the perch made me think of a craft project gone wrong.
Red-spotted Purple Butterfly
Enjoying a patch of sun filtering through the trees this Red-spotted Purple Butterfly spent some time on the ground.
His behavior suggested he was eating / probing the ground, perhaps in search of minerals or salt as some butterflies will do.
Dragonfly Hanging On In Wind
Usually dragonflies are pretty still when they perch.
This fellow was adjusting his wings as the wind was moving his perch.
It was a dull day with not enough light to really capture the insects’s orangey color.
But with his wings up you can see their golden look.
Insect, Exercising?
I don’t really know what this insect was doing, but looking at these two images stretches are what come to mind.
Looking at the dusting of pollen on his legs perhaps he was resting after a morning of work.
Eastern Pondhawk Dragonfly
Some dappled sunlight was filtering down onto the wooded path I was exploring and amazingly this dragonfly landed in the light.
He paused a minute on a blade of grass giving me a very good view.
When he moved he stopped right at my feet, landing on my shoe, before selecting a vegetation perch.
