Archilestes grandis

frons

One of my favorite damsels, the largest by far where I live.

Here is a male with the distinctive blues eyes and coloring.


Another view


Here is a shot of a female taken a few days earlier.


Here is a grooming behaviour, I think, which I have seen only one other time by another dragonfly species. He is using his wings to clean his abdomen (or vice versa?).

paddler4

Nice shots. The focus on the face looks better in #2 than #1, but it is hard to tell at this size. Interesting that even though they are clearly damselflies--you can tell by the head and spherical eyes--in several shots, they are holding their wings out to the side at rest, like dragonflies.

Lord Vetinari

Lovely series of shots - prefer #1 for it's cleaner background.
Brian v.

GOLDENORFE

very nice, backgrounds are a bit distracting and dark.
looks similar to emerald damsel here in uk
phil

frons

Appreciate all the comments. Agreed on the busy backgrounds, but this was my first opportunity to capture the male this season, and this species is a lot more likely to fly off some distance when spooked than smaller species. If I see another this fall, I'll work on getting a better angle.

Don, the Lestes varieties of damsels are commonly known as Spreadwings due to the way they hold their wings.

canon400d

frons wrote:

Appreciate all the comments. Agreed on the busy backgrounds, but this was my first opportunity to capture the male this season, and this species is a lot more likely to fly off some distance when spooked than smaller species. If I see another this fall, I'll work on getting a better angle.

Don, the Lestes varieties of damsels are commonly known as Spreadwings due to the way they hold their wings.

Excellent shots I love em all.Well done
Regards
Bob

frons

canon400d wrote:

Excellent shots I love em all.Well done
Regards
Bob

Thanks for the comments, Bob.