Bonding with Bender

Gray Petaltail dragonflies (Tachopteryx thoreyi) have a well-known preference for perching on gray or tan colored surfaces, including gray or tan colored clothing. Dressed appropriately, I visited a hotspot for Gray Petaltail where I hoped to shoot some “selfie” photographs of T. thoreyi perched on me.

The first photo is a “selfie” that shows a Fiery Skipper butterfly (Hylephila phyleus) perched on my left forearm. Thanks to several members of the BugGuide Facebook group for help in identifying the butterfly!

A Fiery Skipper butterfly perched on my left forearm.

The pained expression on my face says “You should have worn your glasses, you old fool!” I call it “going snake-eyed.”

The last photo is a “selfie” that shows a Gray Petaltail dragonfly perched on my Cabela’s Safari Series vest. This individual is a male that I nicknamed “Bender” because of his malformed abdomen.

A Gray Petaltail dragonfly (male) perched on my Cabela’s safari vest.

Open the full-size version of the preceding photo and zoom in on the dragonfly. Look at Bender’s face. I wonder what he was thinking.

Tech Tips

I used my Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ150 superzoom camera to shoot the “selfie” photos featured in this blog post. The camera was set for manual focus at the hyperfocal distance for an aperture of f/4, based upon the instructions provided in the excellent video tutorial by Graham Houghton, “Panasonic Lumix FZ camera easier manual focus method — super point-and-shoot tip.”

The camera was mounted on a Sunpak 8001 UT medium duty aluminum tripod, with the articulating LCD facing forward. A JJC TM-Series Multi-Function Timer Remote Control was connected to the camera. I sat on a Coleman camp stool positioned a few feet in front of the camera, with the remote control in one hand.

Copyright © 2018 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

Gray Petaltail (male terminal appendages)

“Bender,” my nickname for a male Gray Petaltail dragonfly (Tachopteryx thoreyi) with a malformed abdomen, is featured in the following set of annotated photos.

06 JUN 2018 | Northern Virginia | Gray Petaltail (male)

All male dragonflies have three terminal appendages, collectively called “claspers,” that are used to grab and hold female dragonflies during mating: an upper pair of cerci (“superior appendages”) and a lower unpaired epiproct (“inferior appendage”).

Gray Petaltail males have “indented” hind wings, as shown in the last photo.

06 JUN 2018 | Northern Virginia | Gray Petaltail (male)

Related Resources

• Gray Petaltail (female terminal appendages)
• Odonate Terminal Appendages

Copyright © 2018 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

“Bender” on grass

Gray Petaltail dragonfly (Tachopteryx thoreyi) is well-known for its tendency to perch on gray and tan colored surfaces, including tree trunks. Less well-known is the fact that Gray Petaltail perches wherever it wants, including tall grasses growing in the forest seeps from which the species emerges.

“Bender,” my nickname for a male Gray Petaltail with a malformed abdomen, is shown perched on grass stems in the following photo set.

No. 1 | 06 JUN 2018 | Northern Virginia | Gray Petaltail (male)

The next photo provides a good view of the gentle curve in Bender’s abdomen, as well as his hamules, visible on the ventral side of abdominal segments two and three (S2 and S3).

No. 2 | 06 JUN 2018 | Northern Virginia | Gray Petaltail (male)

Like many male odonates, Bender probably perched on the grass in order to make himself available for hook-ups with females of the same species.

No. 3 | 06 JUN 2018 | Northern Virginia | Gray Petaltail (male)

Bender aggressively defended the prominent perch against other odonates that intruded upon his territory.

No. 4 | 06 JUN 2018 | Northern Virginia | Gray Petaltail (male)

No flash/flash

Compare/contrast Photo No. 3-4. The batteries in my external flash unit were almost drained completely by the time I shot the photos. As a result, the flash worked sometimes and didn’t work other times. I’m fairly certain the flash didn’t fire for the Photo No. 3, and equally certain it fired for Photo No. 4. Some photographers might contend the no-flash photo is “arty”; I contend Photo No. 4 — the fill-flash version — has better color balance, color saturation, and more detail in the shadows.

Copyright © 2018 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

“Bender” on bark

I nicknamed this male Gray Petaltail dragonfly (Tachopteryx thoreyi) “Bender” because of his malformed abdomen.

06 JUN 2018 | Northern Virginia | Gray Petaltail (male)

Bender is shown perched on a tree that fell across a forest seep. It’s possible the tree makes the seep seepier, and that’s a good thing for the Gray Petaltail larvae that are well-adapted for this specific type of habitat.

06 JUN 2018 | Northern Virginia | Gray Petaltail (male)

Just look at that face — Bender exudes personality! In the following photo, Bender perched in a spot so that he was looking at me directly. Yep, that’s when we bonded.

06 JUN 2018 | Northern Virginia | Gray Petaltail (male)

Next post: “Bender” on grass. No, wait — that doesn’t sound right!

Copyright © 2018 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

Introducing “Bender”

A Gray Petaltail dragonfly (Tachopteryx thoreyi) was spotted at a forested seep. This individual is a male, as indicated by his “indented” hind wings and terminal appendages.

06 JUN 2018 | Northern Virginia | Gray Petaltail (male)

I nicknamed this male “Bender” because of his malformed abdomen. Bender is a scrappy fighter who aggressively defended his territory against other odonate intruders!

More photos of Bender will be published in one or more upcoming blog posts.

Copyright © 2018 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.