Dragonfly Class at Armand Bayou Nature Center - Part Two

As I mentioned in the previous post, my left arm is in a sling following rotator cuff surgery.  I am slowly hunting and pecking on the keyboard.  I offer more pictures from Bob and Maggie Honig's September class for Master Naturalists at Armand Bayou Nature Center. Below there be dragons, a damsel, and a dragon-eater.

Roseate Skimmer, Orthemis ferruginea. His tail is the color of raspberry, his thorax is grape.

Roseate Skimmer, Orthemis ferruginea, male.

Eastern Pondhawk, male, Erythemis simplicicollis.  Powdery blue color with amber stigma.

Black and Yellow Garden Spider, Argiope aurantia, catches dragonflies inches above the water.  She has snared a female Pondhawk and at least one Blue Dasher.

Blue Dasher, Pachydiplax longipennis, perches above a brown and yellow damselfly.

Dragonfly Class at Armand Bayou Nature Center - Part One

One hand typing for now – I had surgery to repair my left rotator cuff and am in a sling.  But I have some critters to show you! 

In September, the Galveston Bay Area Chapter of Texas Master Naturalists held an advanced training class about dragonflies.  The fascinating class was taught by Bob Honig with assistance from Maggie Honig.  We were lucky to be at the Armand Bayou Nature Center which has ponds that are perfect habitat for dragons.

Catch and release:  Bob Honig with male Blue Dasher, Pachydiplax longipennis. See the "tiger striped" thorax?

Catch and release:  Maggie Honig with Hyacinth Glider, Miathyria marcella

Male Eastern Pondhawk, Erythemis simplicicollis.  He's a dusty, light blue.

Male Eastern Pondhawk, Erythemis simplicicollis

Female Eastern Pondhawk, Erythemis simplicicollis. Though far away, you can see she's green.

Eastern Pondhawks, Erythemis simplicicollis, mating in "wheel" position.

Blue Dragonfly

The previous "Obelisking Dragonfly" I dubbed a Blue Dasher even  though he/she was brown and yellow. Some of you wondered about that.  With this posting you can see the namesake!  The male Blue Dasher is a beauty, the color of a clear sky.  Some dragonflies spend most of their time flying, while others perch.  Dashers are perchers.  This smart fellow spends his days poised on a branch of my native salvia where the blue blossoms afford him some camouflage.  The little Blue Dasher, Pachydiplax longipennes, like other dragonflies, will eat what it can catch.  I have seen these guys swoop repeatedly through a cloud of gnats - like sharks through a school of little fish.