Photobombing Dragonfly

It looks like I was all lined up for an above average picture of a perching dragonfly when suddenly someone else jumped in front of the camera. You can see that the background dragonfly (probably a Blue Dasher) was in focus but the intruder (definitely a Common Whitetail) was a little too close. (The movement of being in flight probably also contributed to the blurriness.)

These kinds of photobomb moments are pretty common for me, and are especially likely to happen:
  1. Among perched dragonflies, especially near water when males are trying to acquire/defend a territory.
  2. Among pollinators when a bunch of them are competing for the same flowers.
  3. At bird feeders when birds are both trying to feed themselves while depriving rival birds of an easy meal.
A fair question is whether the Common Whitetail was attacking the Blue Dasher to get a meal. Dragonflies will eat other dragonflies, especially species smaller than themselves. And Blue Dashers are slightly smaller than Common Whitetails. But:
  1. The size difference isn't great.
  2. Even smaller dragonflies can bite back; most successful predators tend to focus on less dangerous prey.
  3. There was a lot of dragonfly activity going on, presumably too much for it to mainly be about hunting. Acquiring/defending a territory probably explained most of the activity; these dragonflies probably had romance on their minds more than food.
And as you can see in the second picture, moments later the Common Whitetail was perched on the exact same branch that the Blue Dasher had been on.
June 15, 2022 at Sourland Mountain Preserve

In the 2nd picture, I can't tell if the lower-perching dragonfly is the same Blue Dasher that the Common Whitetail just displaced.

June 15, 2022 at Sourland Mountain Preserve
Photo 210217836, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tussock Moth Herd

Image
Some caterpillars are usually seen in large numbers (like Armyworm Moth caterpillars and Eastern Tent Caterpillars ), while most are more solitary. The Milkweed Tussock Moth caterpillars (more about them are here ) seem to be slightly social. I'll sometimes see them alone, but more often I'll see them in groups of 2-9 members. In the 1st picture below, you can see there is a clear size difference in some of these individuals. I'm almost certain the little one in the middle is in an earlier instar than the others (though they lack the colorful tufts of fuzz in their earliest instars). August 31, 2021 at Washington Valley Park Photo 167477945, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) In the picture below, it's clear that these caterpillars don't require a lot of personal space. August 31, 2021 at Washington Valley Park Photo 167477979, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
Read more

Copper Underwing Caterpillar

Image
I believe this caterpillar to be a Copper Underwing [1]. At least the coloring and the dorsal hump (near the left end of the caterpillar) seem consistent with the Copper Underwing. These caterpillars are not what you'd consider picky eaters; my Caterpillars of Eastern North America describes their diet thusly: Many wooded plants including apple, basswood, blueberry, cherry chestnut, current, grape, greenbrier, hawthorn, hickory, lilac, maple, oak, poplar, raspberry, rhododendron, viburnum, Virginia creeper, and walnut. Wikipedia adds: Ash, privet, honeysuckle, rose, and service trees. That's a pretty wide range of trees and shrubs. One of the challenges of finding them is that they could be almost anywhere; the other challenges are: Their green coloring blends in pretty darned well with the average leaf. They have a habit of feeding underneath leaves, so they're probably not visible when looking down at their location. They have a tendency to move from leaf-to-leaf; if you
Read more

Eastern Pondhawks

Image
I'm going to try something different today with my Eastern Pondhawk pictures. I'm going to let ChatGPT do my blog today. (ChatGPT is an AI program that you can converse with in a pretty human way; an explanation of it is here .) Me:  Can you tell me something interesting about the Eastern Pondhawk? ChatGPT:  The Eastern Pondhawk (Erythemis simplicicollis) is a dragonfly species that is native to North America. It is a medium-sized dragonfly, with a wingspan of about 3 inches, and can be found in a variety of habitats, including wetlands, marshes, and ponds. One interesting characteristic of the Eastern Pondhawk is its mating behavior. Male Eastern Pondhawks are known for their territorial behavior and will defend their territory from other males. They will patrol their territory and will try to mate with any females that fly into their territory. Another interesting fact about the Eastern Pondhawk is that it is a fast flyer and is able to hover in midair. It is also an import
Read more