Saturday, May 22, 2010

Blue Dragonfly (AKA- Mosquito Hawk)

It's eyes look like they are made of blown glass found in some exotic far away land.

Here is a random bug question: Do different color dragonflies mate with each other, or are the colors each a distinct species that only mate with the same color as themselves?
Xoxox

3 comments:

  1. Although the coloration can vary between the male & female of the same species, they still tend to have the same patterns, with the female colors often being less vibrant (like many birds). It seems it's all about reproduction, as the way dragonflies hunt above water surfaces means there's not much chance at camouflage anyway. So yes, different colors means different species. I, too, have marveled at how impossibly brilliant their colors can be.

    Some of my most vivid memories of childhood are of trying to catch dragonflies off of a fence surrounding some lake in Korea. We would sneak up and - ever so slowly - get our fingers past the end of the abdomen and then quickly pinch it. No doubt it did some internal damage when we were successful, but hey, I was like four! But what was really emblazoned on my brain was how unbelievably red the red ones were. As red as red can be, with nothing else in nature to compare it to, even flowers. Perhaps it was the irridescence so common in dragonflies that put that shade of red over the top.

    A couple years later, I was adopted into an American household. My first night in my new mansion-seeming home included... an actual playroom! With toys galore! The way my mom tells it, the first thing I went for was... a fire-engine-red fire engine.

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  2. Gratu -
    I love dragonflies!
    Thanks for your story and your information. :)
    The color variation from male to female must be slight cause when I see them mating they always seem to be with one looking just like itself.

    I like how in Korea the dragonflies were bright red, I have never seen that. Do you have a link to pictures?
    I also like how children love to play with simple things, and Americans love to pile on the toys for kids to create "happiness" - but you always see kids loving nature, an empty box or something like making spit balls out of toilet paper and re plastering the ceiling --- so much more then store bought toys.
    Maybe I just speak for myself though.

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