Bugs Dragonfly Thread

Kit needed
Reading about photographing them - it seems that a good Macro lens is needed - minimum FX equivalent of 105mm and a diffused modified (ring) flash
but the longer the better up to 200mm so that you can keep a distance from them

"Stacking" seems to be the ultimate in getting really good images with full DOF
 
Paul, that's really fresh, if I'm not mistaken you can see the exuvia (the larval case from which that insect has recently emerged) in the bottom of shot 1. I would think you missed seeing it emerge by no more than 2 or 3 hours. ID is good as well, too many years since I've seen one of those.

Barrie
 
wow well spotted with the exuvia, Barrie. My excuse for not noticing - I was trying not to fall in the pond while craning over trying to get her, plus I had just found a fairly freshly shed grass-snake skin.

I knew she must be pretty new as, despite the warm weather, I was able to get right in with the Tamron 90mm in the final shot. Generally they're off once you get within a few feet, but this was not many inches.
 
Marvellous Paul, done my admin job and updated the first posting

All I saw today was the usual Red one and the usual blue one - scrapping a little now and again over the same patch of pond

Taken with my Nikon 300mm f2.8VR … and struggling a bit with noise ……… but cannot really get near them because of the minimum focussing distance

<strike>presumably its </strike><strike>Common Blue Damselfly - </strike><strike>Enallagma cyathigerum</strike>

CORRECTION - It s Azure Damselfly Coenagrion puella

Blue_1-June_1.jpg




Blue_1-June_2.jpg


Blue_1-June_3.jpg



Common Blue Damselfly - Enallagma cyathigerum - male - UK ......... for comparison
Dfly.jpg
 
A quick look through the other 40-odd shots reveals the following (heavily cropped) revealing a reasonably sharp detail of that exuvia; who says "spray and pray" isn't good technique?


Paul, if you do chance on what is a newly emerged insect it's always worth looking for the exuvia, it won't be far away. The insect will have emerged from the split case, all except the abdomen. It will then hang head down for about an hour until the legs harden. Then it can grip the stem and pull the rest of its body free of the exuvia. It will then crawl up a short distance and expand its wings. At that time they are actually held along the line of the body (like damselflies at rest), then once expanded they move out to the characteristic position at right angles to the line of the body.

The white threads you can see on the exuvia are the old breathing tubes which connected to whatever gill type arrangement the species used as a larva living underwater.

I amassed a small collection of exuvia at one time, must still be in pots in one of the boxes still unopened from my move last year.

By the way, don't assume it's a female. Whilst the male of some species emerge with the final colouration in situ, albeit rather dull, others emerge coloured much more like a female and then mature into male colouration over about a week. These immature insects are known as tenerals. If Bill thought birds were difficult, just you wait. Whilst known as the bird watchers insect, some birders won't study them because they can be difficult to sex and age with the colour changes they go through.

Barrie
 
Marvellous Paul, done my admin job and updated the first posting

All I saw today was the usual Red one and the usual blue one - scrapping a little now and again over the same patch of pond

Taken with my Nikon 300mm f2.8VR … and struggling a bit with noise ……… but cannot really get near them because of the minimum focussing distance

presumably its Common Blue Damselfly - Enallagma cyathigerum

Blue_1-June_1.jpg

Bill, assumptions are dangerous, and not scientific, it's not a Common Blue damselfly. I keep telling you to pay attention to the antehumeral stripes. On that insect they are rather narrower than on the Common Blue. Also on segment 2 of the abdomen, so just behind the thorax, is a U shaped black mark. On a Common Blue there would be a sort of a ball on a stick mark.

So what you have there is an Azure Damselfly Coenagrion puella

Barrie
 
A friend of mine has a beautiful sequence of photographs of a crane fly (or do I mean caddis?) emerging: Flickr Search — “crane fly”

Ah that's good info about the tenerals, something I hadn't considered. thanks.

I keep my eyes open for any and all sorts of natural world stuff, and I know this'll probably be mostly it for my contributions to this thread this year: around here, I've only ever seen a couple of species each of hawker, chaser and darter. This one was from "my" pond by the common, where there are usually plenty of four-spotted, plus later in the year a few Blue Darters are usually to be seen.

The possible Sedge warbler heard not far away the other week though hasn't reappeared :(
 
The possible Sedge warbler heard not far away the other week though hasn't reappeared :(

Paul, two possible explanations for that. It might have been a migrant and moved on overnight, or it might have attracted a mate. Once mated it won't sing again, not even to advertise its territory to other Sedge Warblers. The British Trust for Ornithology rate it as a species not capable of survey by the normal Common Bird Census techniques. I have done it by visiting potential territories at least every three days, so labour intensive. I found that a few days after the male stopped singing you might be lucky and see nest building activity, otherwise about four weeks after it stopped singing you would see adults carrying food to the nest site, assuming it was a territory and breeding had been successful. The male will sing again if the pair bond has broken down and it's looking for a new mate.

Barrie
 
Bill, assumptions are dangerous, and not scientific, it's not a Common Blue damselfly. I keep telling you to pay attention to the antehumeral stripes. On that insect they are rather narrower than on the Common Blue. Also on segment 2 of the abdomen, so just behind the thorax, is a U shaped black mark. On a Common Blue there would be a sort of a ball on a stick mark.

So what you have there is an Azure Damselfly Coenagrion puella

Barrie


Thanks you kind Sir - another one for the list

better not post an image of the "Red one" until I've checked it out - it was quite small

Still 46 need to complete the "UK List"
 
Paul, two possible explanations for that. [snip]

Also good info.
I've been trolling over the common regularly for quite a few years now, so I suppose I have to consider it my "patch", and this was the first (possible) instance of this species I'd encountered, so I'm guessing it was passing through. It would be nice to think there's a breeding pair, but I'm not holding my breath. Meanwhile the place is as thick with Chiffchaff and Blackcap as ever, though there are fewer Willow every year; I do seem to have noticed a few more Garden this spring. The sparrowhawk nest, unfortunately, seems to have been abandoned, although I have heard and seen her recently so fingers crossed they have relocated. Not a single Cuckoo heard, sadly. After I first moved here in 2003, they could be heard every spring across the vale, but in the last 5 years or so, very rarely.

anyway, that's all a bit off topic ... sorry Bill
 
better not post an image of the "Red one" until I've checked it out - it was quite small

Bill, I known size is in the name, but the difference between the two size wise is miniscule, a matter of a few millimetres only, it's all about the habitat. The Small Red is dependant on acidic water, so peat bogs and the like. NO garden pond will satisfy it. I've never seen any, but I'm not far now from suitable habitat (Dartmoor) and so it's a target species for this year. It also has a restricted distribution range, the Surrey heaths, the New Forest, Devon, Cornwall and the coastal strip of West Wales from north to south. It's a Mediterranean species at the edge of its range here, it requires warm water for egg and larva development. Adults fly in sunny conditions, with high temperature and low wind speed. The larva live in the Sphagnum of nutrient poor bog pools.

Quite a few Dragonflies and Damselflies are restricted in range because of very particular habitat requirements, just because there's a pond doesn't mean that they'll be resident in it.

Barrie
 
Back on track with some more for you Bill

These were taken ages ago (2007) with an Olympus E-1, they've been dusted off and processed with a brand new updated version of Corel AfterShotPro, which I haven't used for ages, and then GIMP to add the borders, all done on my Linux machine, but hey, you'll be wanting to see whats on offer, cut the baloney and get to the meat.

5030217_1.jpg

mature male Blue-tailed Damselfly Ischnura elegans


6040340_1.jpg

mature male Black-tailed Skimmer Orthetrum cancellatum


6040346_1.jpg

male Emperor Dragonfly Anax imperator

Barrie
 
In knew I had these, but had to go all the way back to 2006 to find them, how time flies

These were taken on an Olympus E-10


P6080448.jpg

newly emerged Black-tailed Skimmer Orthetrum cancellatum. The exuvia was just below and out of shot

P6210844.jpg

newly emerged Golden-ringed Dragonfly Cordulegaster boltonii. This one has yet to fully open its wings. It's clinging to the exuvia and gives you an idea of just how much the body can expand after emerging from the larval skin

P7171345.jpg

A mated pair of Golden-ringed Dragonflies

P8151542.jpg

female Migrant Hawker Aeshna mixta

P8281573.jpg

male Migrant Hawker

P8291586.jpg

unusually amongst Dragonflies the Migrant Hawkers tend to be quite sociable, there were a total of five gathered sunning themselves on these brambles

Bill, feel free to tell me if I'm monopolising this thread, obviously given the time of year these have all been from my back catalogue, little opportunity yet for new contributions from 2014, at least in the northern hemisphere.

Barrie
 
No all good Barrie - duplication is allowed if other have or find new images

Cannot update until this evening - as I'm in London for an 11am meeting, (unusual for me, that early) - hate the place, London that is
 
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