Uploads from pieceoflace photography, tagged coenagrionidae

Meet Mrs. Apicalis...

nobody@flickr.com (pieceoflace photography) — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 01:50:52 -0700

Good morning everyone and Happy Hug a Bug Day. Featured today is the Blue-fronted Dancer (Argia apicalis). A relatively large damselfly with a body length that varies from 1.3 - 1.6 inches (3.4 - 4.2 cm).

As for the photos, they were taken along the banks of a wide muddy river. It's the kind of place I normally don't frequent, but a carshow we attended was held in a park along the river. I was hoping to find a new dragonfly or two that preferred a river habitat, but no such luck.

On the plus side, I was fortunate to see as many female Blue-fronted Dancers as males, which afforded me the opportunity to begin this series with pics of females as I normally like to do. If it wasn't for the fact I saw a few of them mating with males I would have had a tough time determining what they were.

Thank you for stopping by...and I hope you have a truly terrific Tuesday.

Lacey

ISO400, aperture f/11, exposure .008 seconds (1/125) focal length 300mm

Male Blue-fronted Dancer (Argia apicalis)...

nobody@flickr.com (pieceoflace photography) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 05:30:06 -0700

pieceoflace photography posted a photo:

As seen above, the mature male Blue Fronted Dancer’s thorax resembles a faceted gemstone, with only the thinnest of black lines separating the various regions of the thorax. On the rear of the abdomen, segments eight, nine, and ten are blue.

ISO400, aperture f/11, exposure .004 seconds (1/250) focal length 300mm

Female Blue-fronted Dancer (Argia apicalis)...

nobody@flickr.com (pieceoflace photography) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 05:31:09 -0700

pieceoflace photography posted a photo:

Females and immature males can be a little tricky to identify, and resemble the females and immature males of other Dancers. The brown form as seen above looks similar to other various female Dancers. To make matters worse, there are two female color forms as with several other Dancers species. The blue form female, of which I didn't see any, has a blue thorax and looks similar to the male, but minus the blue tip on the abdomen.

ISO400, aperture f/11, exposure .006 seconds (1/180) focal length 300mm

Female Blue-fronted Dancer (Argia apicalis)...

nobody@flickr.com (pieceoflace photography) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 05:32:04 -0700

pieceoflace photography posted a photo:

Argia is a genus of damselflies of the family Coenagrionidae and of the subfamily Argiinae. It is a diverse genus found in the Western Hemisphere that contains about 114 species and is also the largest genus in Argiinae. They are commonly known as Dancers, and although the genus name comes from Ancient Greek: ἀργία - argia meaning "laziness", dancers are quite active and alert damselflies. The bluer Dancers species may be easily confused with Bluets (Enallagma). Unlike most of the Coenagrionidae, Dancers are often associated with flowing water. When perched, they usually hold their wings slightly above the abdomen.

ISO400, aperture f/11, exposure .008 seconds (1/125) focal length 300mm

Two bugs on a stick...

nobody@flickr.com (pieceoflace photography) — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 01:01:50 -0700

pieceoflace photography posted a photo:

Good morning everyone. Featured once again for Hug a Bug Day is damselfly. This week being the Familiar Bluet (Enallagma civile), a damselfly of the family Coenagrionidae with an average length of 1-1/8 -- 1-1/2 inches (29-38 mm). While many of the blue Bluets are difficult to differentiate between species, I'm pretty sure I identified this one correctly. But if anyone feels I'm in error, please feel free to advise me accordingly. Thank you.

And thank you for stopping by...I hope you have a truly nice day.

Lacey

ISO400, aperture f/13, exposure .006 seconds (1/180) focal length 300mm

Male Familiar Bluet (Enallagma civile)...

nobody@flickr.com (pieceoflace photography) — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 07:53:54 -0700

pieceoflace photography posted a photo:

Male Familiar Bluets can be seen flying very low over ponds, lakes, and slow-moving streams. As hunters, both males and females have the habit of plucking small insects off plants as they fly by. Favored perches include logs, the ground, algal pads as above and waterside plants; the species has a preference for perching horizontally, but can also be found perched diagonally.

Familiar Bluets are native to much of the United States and southern Canada.

ISO400, aperture f/11, exposure .004 seconds (1/250) focal length 300mm

Familiar Bluets (Enallagma civile)...

nobody@flickr.com (pieceoflace photography) — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 07:54:19 -0700

pieceoflace photography posted a photo:

Male Familiar Bluets have a broad black shoulder stripe, and an abdomen that has more blue than black. The black color is most extensive on abdominal segments six and seven. Segments eight and nine are entirely blue. S10 is black dorsally, blue laterally. Cerci are large, wedge-shaped, blunt & easy to sight. The eyespots are most often small and comma-shaped, or roundish, but unfortunately this is not true of every individual. Immature males have a tan coloration in place of the blue.

The lighter color on females may be blue, tan, or greenish. On females, look for an abdomen that is mostly black on top. Eyespots and thoracic markings are the same in females as the males.

While this species can be hard to distinguish from certain other bluets, it and the Hagen's Bluet (Enallagma hageni) are so close in appearance they require an expert examination in the hand with a magnifying glass to distinguish between the two.

ISO400, aperture f/11, exposure .003 seconds (1/350) focal length 300mm

Female Familiar Bluet (Enallagma civile)...

nobody@flickr.com (pieceoflace photography) — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 04:12:21 -0700

pieceoflace photography posted a photo:

ISO400, aperture f/11, exposure .006 seconds (1/180) focal length 300mm