2004 Photograph, Great Blue Skimmer Dragonfly (Libellula vibrans), Huntley Meadows, Alexandria, Virginia, © 2020.
Blue? Well, eventually.
This is a juvenile male of the species and he is using his front pair
of legs to clean her huge compound eyes. Dragonflies go thorough a
period of maturation after they emerge from the aquatic nymph stage.
During maturation, both sexes darken in color. Males of this species
also develop a waxy covering that produces a "bloom" over the surface of
the abdomen. |
