This male Blue Dasher, Pachydiplax longipennis, rested in the obelisk posture, on a sun-crinkled lily leaf, pointing upward to the sky. While it may look like a tail to the dragonfly uninitiated, this blue-striped section of the insect is the abdomen. Dragonflies use this posture on hot days to keep cool, but apparently, Blue Dashers will also use this to signify territorial supremacy. Later in the day, this guy and another dasher spent time chasing one another around the pond. I hope they managed to nibble on some mosquitoes in order to keep up their energy!
Garden drama!
Conversely, this Great Spreadwing, Archilestes grandis, points its abdomen (“tail”) downward toward the water as it hangs from a piece of pond vegetation. This fella perched for hours above the cool pond. I originally saw him in the morning, but he was there at various points in the afternoon, just hangin’. The Great Spreadwing is a damselfly and one of the largest of the spreadwings in North America.
You’ll notice on the right side of the photo that one of the wings has some damage, perhaps from a bird or another damsel or dragon? And look at those beautiful, buggy-blue eyes!
Late summer brings the dragons and damsels out in full force, with plenty of zipping and zooming around the pond. Gorgeous predators, they’re fascinating to observe and sparkly jewels in the garden.
Their bodies are so unusual. Nature is amazing.
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They always look ancient to me!
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Love it! We get late summer darners zooming over our lawn. I cheer those skitter-eaters! 😀
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I grew up in New York, where kids called dragonflies “darning needles” and falsely feared they could sting you.
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I think I’ve heard that before–maybe from you in another post? It’s kind of charming, though!
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Coincidentally, in the book Speaking Freely, by Flexner and Soukhanov, I just read the following: “A dragonfly is a darning needle or devil’s darning needle in the North, snake feeder in East and Southeast Midland regions of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Tennessee, snake doctor in the Southern Piedmont, as well as most of the Upper South, and mosquito hawk along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, with the variant skeeter hawk most popular in the Piney Woods of the Lower South, from Florida to Texas.”
AI adds: “Older northern folklore warned children that dragonflies would sew up the mouths of liars. Kids were told the insect could stitch shut their ears, eyes, fingers, or toes if they fell asleep near water.”
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It seems like they got a slow start in my garden this year, not sure why. But they’re here and that’s what matters. Huzzah to the skeeter-eaters!
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Your picture of a dragonfly in the obelisk position got me wondering about people doing a version of that. According to AI, “The record for the longest time balancing on the hands is 1 hour, 15 minutes, and 13 seconds, set by Néstor Santiago Gonzalez Valero in Bogotá, Colombia, on August 2, 2026.”
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That’s impressive! I wonder if my dasher could best that guy? I suppose only if there isn’t another dasher threatening its territory!
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How nice that these creatures posed for photos for you, Tina. Maybe it’s their way of saying “thank you” for providing them with a pond. 🙂
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What a lovely thought! They do seem to enjoy the pond, that’s for sure!
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It seems this is blue dasher season! I included one in my current post, and it was only one of dozens flying around. Yesterday, after we got maybe a quarter-inch of rain, a different species emerged, but I have no idea what they are. They’re fast, small, brownish, and refuse to light: but there are a lot of them.
I still haven’t figured out (or even really theorized about) why down at the marinas, there are damselflies galore around the boats, but no dragonflies. Since pondhawks and such will tolerate brackish water, I’m wondering if the salt content is too high. The next time we get a really good rain that puts fresh water into the bay I need to pay attention and see if the dragonfly numbers increase.
I’ve never seen a damselfly hanging down like that. Is that common behavior designed to deal with heat, like the obelisk posture?
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Yes, they’re really active at the end of summer! Oooh, a quarter inch of rain–I’m jealous!
Your theory about the fresh vs. brackish water is sound; I’ll be interested if you notice a difference in who shows up after a heavy rain, though if it’s late in the season, will the dragons be around? Ours disappear usually in late October-ish.
I don’t know if it’s a common practice, but what I read about the spreadwing, they tend to just hang like mine did. It certainly makes it easier to catch a photo!
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I’m a fan of these guys, thanks for the post. A dragonfly once flew along beside me on my bicycle, maybe because of my flashing lights, it was so cool! Dragons and damsels are busy in ponds in the Laramie Mts right now, probably will end soon.
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What a cool story! When I see them, they seem to pay attention to me, unlike butterflies/moths who are there, but just flit away. I always get the impression that dragons and damsels are watching me as much as I’m watching them. 🙂
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