A single Halloween Pennant dragonfly (Celithemis eponina) was spotted in a field located near Dogue Creek, Huntley Meadows Park (HMP). This individual is a female, as indicated by its coloration and terminal appendages; no males were spotted during the photowalk.
10 JUL 2015 | HMP | Halloween Pennant (female)
The photos in this set were taken on a very windy day. The wind was blowing so hard the dragonfly struggled to hold onto her perch, as shown in the next photo when the pennant was almost flipped upside-down.
Notice the dragonfly has a mild infestation of parasitic black water mites.
10 JUL 2015 | HMP | Halloween Pennant (female)
(See a full-size version of the preceding photo, without annotation.)
Digital Dragonflies: presenting high-resolution digital scans of living dragonflies.
- Genus Celithemis | Celithemis eponina | Halloween Pennant | female | top view
- Genus Celithemis | Celithemis eponina | Halloween Pennant | female | side view
- Genus Celithemis | Celithemis eponina | Halloween Pennant | male | top view
- Genus Celithemis | Celithemis eponina | Halloween Pennant | male | side view
Copyright © 2015 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.
Tags: Celithemis eponina, Dogue Creek, female, Halloween Pennant dragonfly, Huntley Meadows Park, parasite, Skimmer Family, terminal appendages, water mites, wildlife photography
walter sanford's photoblog 
September 16, 2015 at 4:17 am |
Gorgeous shots, Walter, of one of our most photogenic dragonfly species. The wing patterns and the two-tone eyes really grab our attention. I think you know it already, but I have a particular fondness for the head-on shot, like the first shot.
September 16, 2015 at 8:14 am |
We were “extreme photowalking” together when I shot the face-on photo, Mike. I spotted this beauty when you wandered off on a tangent. Thought of you then and again when I wrote the post.
September 17, 2015 at 3:46 pm |
Gorgeous wing colors, the photos are amazing.