More dragons of the lake

Posted on Jul 9, 2009 by jason

Drought has created a dearth of insects this year.  The cicada-killer wasp colony that surrounds my home normally fills the air with nearly a hundred flying giants; this year perhaps 15 or 20 of the insects came to life: a repercussion of the lack of cicadas last year.  My patio for years has hosted dozens of millipedes each day; not so this year.  The lack of bees, ants, spiders, grasshoppers and all manner of small critters makes me fear for the ripple effect this will have on the rest of the food chain.

Yet I have been lucky enough to find some signs of life in that tiny world arachnids and insects call home.  And where I’ve been unable to scratch that itch with what is, I’ve been able to dredge up what was from the photo archives.  (I’ll admit I’m making a concerted effort to clear out the flood of images I’ve collected that haven’t found a home.  Otherwise they get swept into the dustbin to make room for new collections.)

So here’s another sampling of dragonflies from White Rock Lake.  There are more to come, sure, and reaching back years means not all will be of the best quality.  But oh well…

Atlantic bluet (Enallagma doubledayi) perched on grass seed (20080921_12564)

Atlantic bluet (Enallagma doubledayi)

Western forktail (Ischnura perparva) perched on a dry reed (2009_03_08_012977)

Western forktail (Ischnura perparva)

Blue-ringed dancer (Argia sedula) perched on a blade of grass (2009_07_07_026222)

Blue-ringed dancer (Argia sedula)

Checkered setwing (Dythemis fugax) perched on a dry twig (2009_07_07_026187)

Checkered setwing (Dythemis fugax)

Halloween pennant (Celithemis eponina) perched on a grass stalk (2009_07_06_026100)

Halloween pennant (Celithemis eponina)

Dusky dancer (Argia translata) perched on the end of a blade of grass (2009_07_07_026148)

Dusky dancer (Argia translata)

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2 Responses to “More dragons of the lake”

  1. The blue insects (bluet and blue-ringed dancer) are exceptionally striking in terms of the color and patterns. They look like something I would have as an abstract piece.

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  2. Friday Ark #251…

    We’ll post links to sites that have Friday (plus or minus a few days) photos of their chosen animals (photoshops at our discretion and humans only in supporting roles). Watch the Exception category for rocks, beer, coffee cups, and….? Visit all the …

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