Hiding under my wings

Mating in the heart of the winter

Two Red veined darters in tandem positions, ovipositing in the heart of the winter. Lake Kourna, Crete.

Time to sleep

Dragonflies - Scarlet Dragonfly

Male 

Female

Long Lives the Emperor - Anax imperator

The Emperor Dragonfly (Anax imperator), one of the most fascinating dragonflies! I've been watching these gyus flying around for over two year now, and finally I saw one standing! It gave me the time to take only very few shots before flying again. Amazing animal, very big dragonfly.

ID - Red veined Darter - Immature male VS female

A common problem when trying to identify odonata species (both Damselflies & Dragonflies) is that immature males of a species often look quite similar to mature females, which can become very misleading. The easiest way for a fast and accurate identification is the observation of reproductive structures, such as the male secondary genitalia and appendages or the female ovipositor or the vulvar scale. However, in many cases this becomes difficult due to their small size or a not so suitable angle between the subject and the observed. In this cases coloration might become a better index for the identification. Here I will try to point out some differences between immature male and mature female red veined darters (Sympetrum fonscolombii).

This is a mature female individual. The abdomen's coloration, with the two black stripes running the ventral part of the abdomen, is characteristic for the females.

A better view of the female abdomen.

Now this is how an immature male looks like. The general similarity with the female is more than obvious, however the specific pattern in the abdomen is missing. Moreover, if you give a better look under the base of the abdomen (S2) you will notice a slight "swelling" which is a male's reproductive structure enabling him to transfer sperm to the female, the so called secondary genitalia.

Eventually, the immature male will start to become mature and change his colour to red. This is how this procedures begins. As you can see the dorsal of the abdomen has already turned red, and the rest of the body will follow.

A Dragon's breakfast

Life can be hard, especially if you are small. This is what happer to this small damslefly (Blue-tailed damselfly - Ischnura elegans) which is being eaten by its larger distant "cousin", a Scarlet Dragonlfy (Crocothemis erythraea). Odonata are indeed ferocious predators!

Still Alive

Early in a summer morning, with much dew, this elder male Red-Veined Darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii) was trying to stay alive for one more day. Spreading the wings in order to gain energy from the sun, is the usual way to achieve this.

Dragonflies - Sympetrum meridionale - Southern Darter

Smile

 

Crocothemis erythraea female

Last dragonflies before the winter (finally) comes

 

Sympetrum striolatum 

  

 
Sympetrum meridionale
 

Ischnura elegans

Trithemis annulata

Trithemis annulata

Crocothemis erythraea

Κιτρινοσουσουράδα - Yellow wagtail - Motacilla flava

 

Νεαρή κιτρινοσουσουράδα (Motacilla flava) στη λιμνοθάλασσα Καλοχωρίου. Οι φωτογραφίες είναι τραβηγμένες τον Ιούλιο του 2009. Το συγκεκριμένο πουλί μέσα σε 10 λεπτά είχε φάει 4 ελικοπτεράκια Crocothemis erythraea, που μπορείτε να δείτε στις δύο επόμενες φωτογραφίες. Το πρώτο είναι θηλυκό, ενώ το δεύτερο αρσενικό.

Juvenile yellow wagtail (Motacilla flava) at Kalochori lagoon. The photos were taken in July 2009. This individual ate in an interval of 10 minutes 4 dragonflies Crocothemis erythraea, photos of which you can see below. The first one is a female and the second a male.