TWO RED
Small Scarlet
Small Scarlet dragonfly. This one has a very broad abdomen. Common in the summer. Found in pools (and streams). Range extends to equatorial Africa.
Red-veined Dropwing
Red-veined Dropwing dragonfly. Has black marks on the tip of the abdomen, not so visible as he is sky-pointing, and back-lit. Settle with their wings downwards and forwards, on reeds or grass. Making short forays for food, or, if male, to pursue intruders. Numerous in a wide variety of vegetation types. One of the most common dragonflies, with a very wide range that includes all of Africa and the Mediterranean.
March Bluetail
March Bluetail is a damselfly. The male is a brilliant blue with blue and white wing spots. The females may be pale green or orange (how am I supposed to keep up with that?!) Adults from October to June, often in a group. Found in slow flowing water (that would be the waterfall and the pump circulating the water). The most common and widespread damselfly in South Africa. Range extends to equatorial Africa and India.
2004 Field guide to Insects of South Africa by Mike Picker et al.
All the facts are from this book.
All the flippant asides are mine.
Photos by Jurg,
and words by Diana of Elephant's Eye
If only we all had such cameras! How wonderful. How beautiful!
ReplyDeleteWhere I live, our dragon flies can be quite ugly - but damsels seem always to be delightful.
Thanks for your support throughout my Blogger trials, Diana.
Esther
Those dragonflies are beautiful! I especially love the red! Chasing dragonflies for photos is one of my favorite activities!
ReplyDeleteYes, Yes, Yes I see the elephants eye...:-) Like a child always looking for the not expexted...
ReplyDeleteI think I found you through Fairegarden today. I've been browsing into many new blogs today, have a migrain, and is very restless in my chair:-)
Lovely to see you ungarden your garden and taking so many locely photos to share with us.
Cheers from Stockholm, Sweden, Europe
Hillevissan
To the reader in Stockholm - I cannot read the Swedish, but you have the MOST enchanting bird calls on your blog. I'll go back, just to hear the birds singing. And shudder at the SNOW!
ReplyDeleteI love to photograph dragonflies too. Have never seen a red one!
ReplyDeleteWe have a few red damselflies each year in the pond but so far I've never been able to photograph them - you must have alot of patience waiting to take these photos - or else you've got alot of dragonflies to choose from.
ReplyDeleteRosie - the Ungardener can claim the patience, with his new camera. And yes his pond does have a lot of flights. He sometimes feels called on for air traffic control. But when the Blue Emperor (dragonfly) takes off, all other flights are grounded, or they get eaten.
ReplyDeleteI have never seen a red dragonfly, though I have always been fascinated with these delicate creatures. Thanks for the fantastic photos!
ReplyDeleteAmazing shots. That small scarlet dragonfly takes my breath away, and the damselfly has to be viewed enlarged (highly recommended) to get a feel for that exquisite pale turquoise detail. Thank you for sharing a bit of your exotic (to me) local insect life today!
ReplyDeleteMeredith - the enlarged damselfly has some weird technicoloured knobs, which aren't on the picture in the insect book. No idea what that is about?
ReplyDeleteThose really are ridiculously good photographs. I am intimidated beyond belief!
ReplyDeleteDiana, they are so beautiful! I love to see dragonflies in my garden. Can hardly wait for summer to arrive and I do hope they will show this year to. Last year we hade a few of them here / gittan
ReplyDeleteHi again after a while, Diana! I was once on holiday on the Limpopo with one of the photographers who contributed to this book. What an eye-opener that was to me! What fascinating creatures, and what a field of knowledge there is out there where I was aware only of 'a few goggos'. Thanks for the reminder to stop and stare. I am in particular need of that these days...
ReplyDelete