Images by John Solomon
NOTE: over 90 articles available, free of adverts. See: nwhwildlife.org – Rocky Mountains, USA and Index.
The legs bear many spiky hairs, seen beautifully in this image.
The venation of the wings shows clearly here, as does the metallic colour that seems to occur across all the odonata.
A leopard of the sky? Fierce predators, and the combat between males sounds brutal with the clash of wings. John and I are looking forward to May and the re-appearance of damsels and then these dragons.
The red-brown of the abdomen is in stark contrast with the female. Adults do not have lungs, but breath through tubes that lead from small holes (spiracles) in their exoskeleton – which I think I can spot.
A stunning creature, in glorious detail.
The resting position of the wings varies between the damsels and the dragons.
The immature, aquatic stages of dragonflies and damselflies can be caught by dredging a stream or riverbed with a professional net. Best to hold the net downstream of the sampling site and then disturb the substrate with your heel – the hidden life is washed down into the net. (See article on Children.)
NOTE: over 90 articles available, free of adverts. See: nwhwildlife.org – Rocky Mountains, USA and Index.
Wildlife and Ecology, the Wildlife Encyclopaedia 
Very interesting and super photos. Thank you
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