Red dragonfly: a toper?

paddler4

Can't quite identify this guy. The closest I came is a half-banded toper, but there is very little yellow in the back wings, so I suspect that's not quite right. Anyone know?

Not quite handheld--I rested my lens on the wood and gradually slithered toward him.



This is the back of his head, which I found interesting--I never realized that the huge eyes are sort of cantilevered over empty space:



All suggestions welcome.

Dan

Lord Vetinari

LOvely captures- can only say it's a species of what we call in the UK darter dragonflies. Yes their heads do seem to fairly empty spaces

Brian V.

paddler4

Lord Vetinari wrote:

LOvely captures- can only say it's a species of what we call in the UK darter dragonflies. Yes their heads do seem to fairly empty spaces

Brian V.

Brian,

Thanks on both counts. I looked up darters after seeing your post, and that indeed seems like a match, although I can't narrow it down further.

Dan

Mr. Quiet

Very nice.

Can I see the EXIF?

paddler4

Mr. Quiet wrote:

Very nice.

Can I see the EXIF?

Thanks. Here's the EXIF for the first. I was using an extension tube--probably 20mm, but I am not certain. Processed only in LR, using the Adobe Standard profile.



Camera Model Canon EOS 50D
Shooting Mode Aperture-Priority AE
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/80
Av( Aperture Value ) 13.0
Metering Mode Evaluative Metering
Exposure Compensation 0
ISO Speed 800
Lens EF-S60mm f/2.8 Macro USM
Focal Length 60.0 mm
Image Quality RAW
Flash Off
AF Mode Manual focusing
Color Space sRGB

GOLDENORFE

very nice, does look like a darter
you might like to try lightening a touch with either middle levels slider in ps or a bit of fill light in lightroom. just to lighten the reds a touch

Phil
http://www.flickr.com/photos/goldenorfe/

paddler4

GOLDENORFE wrote:

very nice, does look like a darter
you might like to try lightening a touch with either middle levels slider in ps or a bit of fill light in lightroom. just to lighten the reds a touch

Phil
http://www.flickr.com/photos/goldenorfe/

Phil,

Thanks. Yes, I think you are right, at least for the second of the shots.

frons

paddler4 wrote:

Can't quite identify this guy. The closest I came is a half-banded toper, but there is very little yellow in the back wings, so I suspect that's not quite right. Anyone know?

Hi Dan,
I can't really tell from the photographs, either, but a dorsal view showing the venation of all four wings is really helpful for narrowing down the family/genus/species. I admit to being guilty of favoring dorsal views of dragonflies instead of the "nose-hair" variety for the purposes of identification. Plus, I think the wings are really cool!

paddler4 wrote:

This is the back of his head, which I found interesting--I never realized that the huge eyes are sort of cantilevered over empty space:

Dan

From a couple of unfortunate attempts to net some fast-flying specimens (in which the head was removed by the net), I have found that the head is attached to the shoulders by the smallest of necks, about the thickness of a straight pin. This allows for great maneuverability. On occasion, I have even seen dragonflies exhibit a "bobble-head" behavior where their heads jiggle on their necks. On a different occasion, I was able to pick up a specimen that was too cool to fly. With wings held behind its back, it objected by opening its jaws and alternately extending and retracting its forked "tongue" (not sure the technical name). What's remarkable is how all that it eats makes its way through that narrow opening!

Well, that's nothing that you asked for, so I hope I haven't bored you with my fascination for these flying marvels!

paddler4

frons wrote:

Hi Dan,
I can't really tell from the photographs, either, but a dorsal view showing the venation of all four wings is really helpful for narrowing down the family/genus/species. I admit to being guilty of favoring dorsal views of dragonflies instead of the "nose-hair" variety for the purposes of identification. Plus, I think the wings are really cool!

From a couple of unfortunate attempts to net some fast-flying specimens (in which the head was removed by the net), I have found that the head is attached to the shoulders by the smallest of necks, about the thickness of a straight pin. This allows for great maneuverability. On occasion, I have even seen dragonflies exhibit a "bobble-head" behavior where their heads jiggle on their necks. On a different occasion, I was able to pick up a specimen that was too cool to fly. With wings held behind its back, it objected by opening its jaws and alternately extending and retracting its forked "tongue" (not sure the technical name). What's remarkable is how all that it eats makes its way through that narrow opening!

Well, that's nothing that you asked for, so I hope I haven't bored you with my fascination for these flying marvels!

Many thanks on both counts. I do have some shots that are less close up and show the wings from the side. That's how I figured it did not quite match the half-banded toper. But I think your suggestion is a good one. I'll try to get a better shot of the wings for identification in the future. Before I got extension tubes, this was not an issue--I couldn't get close enough to avoid getting at least a good piece of a wing.