Magnetic Lobster

Male Mexican Amberwing dragonfly, Arcadia CA

This was one of those cases where I wished I could have moved the sun. I had no access to the better-illuminated side of this dragonfly.

Photograph taken at the Los Angeles County Arboretum.

Male(?) Halloween Pennant dragonfly, Corolla NC

This is my favorite shot of this eye-catching dragonfly.  The Halloween Pennants we saw on this day were largely uncooperative, never perching anywhere for more than a few seconds.  Until we came across this one.  He sat patiently on this perch for a few minutes and tolerated my camera just a few inches from his face.

Based on this behavior, I suspect that this is one a male. I’ve read that the male Halloween Pennants will sit perched on reeds near the edge of a pond and wait to be noticed by a female.  One sympathizes.

This dragonfly apparently had a recent encounter with a spider web – that’s a small spider attached to her left lower wing.

Female Great Blue Skimmer dragonfly, Corolla NC

My mom and I saw this dragonfly on a trail and thought it was a male Eastern Pondhawk.  But a very knowledgeable naturalist (Ben Watkins?) who happened to be leading a group on the trail at the same time pointed out that this one has a white face (instead of green), which is how you can tell it’s a male Great Blue Skimmer.

Male Great Blue Skimmer dragonfly, Corolla NC

Male Four-Spotted Pennant dragonfly, Corolla NC

Every time I saw Four-Spotted Pennants land, they were perched on plants in the interior of the pond rather than on the edge.  So I had to wade in to get this picture (after several instances of wading in only to have the dragonfly depart before I could get close).

Grappletail dragonfly, Altadena CA

We saw this dragonfly on our hike to Millard Canyon falls. It didn’t mind resting on Thomas’s hand, so we thought it might be injured and unable to fly. To our surprise, shortly after Thomas put it down it flew off.

Unlike other dragonflies pictured here, notice that the eyes of the Grappletail do not touch each other.

For identification, here I’ve relied on the California dragonfly identification key produced by Kathy Biggs.

Female Mexican Amberwing dragonfly, Arcadia CA

The Amberwing dragonflies are small and seem to be content to perch much lower to the ground than the larger dragonflies.

Photograph taken at the Los Angeles County Arboretum.