The following gallery shows a Swamp Darner dragonfly (Epiaeschna heros) spotted during a photowalk along the “Hike-Bike Trail” at Huntley Meadows Park. This individual is a male, as indicated by its terminal appendages. (Notice the “brushes” on the inner sides of the cerci.)
According to Odonata Central, Dragonfly Society of the Americas …
This [very] large common species has brilliant blue eyes and a brown body with green thoracic stripes and narrow green abdominal rings. The wings are often heavily tinged with amber. … The caudal appendages are long in both sexes. The male appendages are complex and distinctly hairy [as shown in Photo 4 of 4].
This individual was so long from head to tail it was virtually impossible to zoom in to show detail while showing the entire dragonfly.
Since Swamp Darner dragonflies perch vertically, the photos in the preceding gallery were rotated 180 degrees in order to create face-on views of the dragonfly, shown below in the same order as the first gallery.
- Genus Epiaeschna | Epiaeschna heros | Swamp Darner | male | top view
- Genus Epiaeschna | Epiaeschna heros | Swamp Darner | male | side view
- Genus Epiaeschna | Epiaeschna heros | Swamp Darner | female | top view
- Genus Epiaeschna | Epiaeschna heros | Swamp Darner | female | side view
Tags: Darner Family, Epiaeschna heros, Hike-Bike Trail, Huntley Meadows Park, male, Swamp Darner dragonfly, wildlife photography
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