Male Autumn Meadowhawk

Here's the only other Autumn Meadowhawk (besides this (probable) female) I got a picture of last autumn. The bright red indicates this one is a guy. Both were (unsurprisingly) seen in meadows. Though like any self-respecting dragonfly, the eggs are laid in water, but some prefer to live in water-adjacent areas.

As is typically the case, the Autumn Meadowhawk was the last species of dragonfly or damselfly that I saw last year. I'm assuming that they've adapted to handling colder temperatures in order to avoid a lot of the dragonfly/damselfly competition that goes on in earlier months, and that some predators (robber flies, mantises, spiders) have left the scene too. (They still have to worry about those birds though.)

Because they live so late into the season, they need to bask in the sun more than the average odonate. They'll probably survive until the first hard frost of the season (hopefully after having mated).

November 16, 2022 at Duke Farms
Photo 251084818, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


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