USA, Georgia, Close-up of dragonfly Backlit on Azalea. Nancy Rotenberg / Jaynes Gallery / DanitaDelimont.com "Danita Delimont Photography"/Newscom. Find it at Newscom.com: ddpphotos260055
I think dragonflies are some of the prettiest insects on the planet. They’re sort of like butterflies, but more…streamlined I guess you could say. Every dragonfly has two pairs of wings and an elongated body, its characteristic of their species. Not only that, but they are among the fastest insects out there. One field experiment clocked a dragonfly going sixty miles per hour. Granted, it wasn’t the most reliable experiment ever but that is still pretty cool if its true.
Dragonflies existed back at the time of the dinosaurs. In fact, there have been fossils of dragonflies with two foot wingspans found. I think I would be pretty terrified if I saw a dragonfly that big. Especially because they’re carnivores and usually eat things like flies, ants, or wasps. If a dragonfly was two feet across, however, I bet it could eat small birds. Or possibly me?
Luckily the only way anyone is going to see a giant dragonfly is in these close up pictures of this beautiful insect.
Blue Dasher, Pachydiplax longipennis, female on Clasping-leaved Coneflower(Dracopis amplexicaulis), Willacy County, Rio Grande Valley, Texas, USA. Rolf Nussbaumer / DanitaDelimont.com "Danita Delimont Photography"/Newscom. Find it at Newscom.com: ddpphotos178327
USA, Texas, McMullen County. Close-up of dragonfly's head. Cathy & Gordon Illg / Jaynes Gallery / DanitaDelimont.com "Danita Delimont Photography"/Newscom. Find it at Newscom.com: ddpphotos295795
Azure damselfly (Coenagrion puella). Marko König Image Broker/Newscom. Find it at Newscom.com: ibpremium439265
A dragonfly on a dry trunk in the Osa peninsula in the South Pacific coast of Costa Rica. JEFFREY ARGUEDAS/EPA/Newscom. Find it at Newscom.com: epaphotosfour469377
A dragonfly (lat. Odonata) being mirrored in a car roof in Eisenhuettenstadt, Germany. PATRICK PLEUL/EPA/Newscom. Find it at Newscom.com: epaphotosfour468535
A red Dragonfly sits on a branch at national Jordanian park near Amman, Jordan, 21 August 2011. JAMAL NASRALLAH/EPA/Newscom. Find it at Newscom.com: epaphotos094033
Dragonfly covered in dew. imago stock&people/Newscom. Find it at Newscom.com: imagostock349098
Dragonfly. Alexander Limbach / CHROMORANGE/picture-alliance/Newscom. Find it at Newscom.com: dpacreative067732
Black darter or Black meadowhawk (Sympetrum danae), wing detail. Marko König Image Broker/Newscom. Find it at Newscom.com: ibpremium439259
See more pictures from this collection here.
Or you can view more macro photography in these other Newscom blogs:
Photomicrography: Nature’s Close Up
Tags: damselfly, dragonfly, insect, macro photography