Sunday Stills:  The Odonates Redux* — Gargantuan Green

A vibrant knight in sparkling vest,
He chose my bricks to pause and rest.
A three-inch giant, fierce and blue,
A flash of wild that journeyed through.

‘Though all my photography buddies have many pictures of Green Darners, the species has been my white whale.  Until this afternoon.  Until five hours (5!!!) after I posted my insects for Sunday Stills.  Then, this afternoon, an enormous Green Darner flew into our balcony and alit on our wall, where he remained, motionless.  

Green Darners are one of the largest, heaviest, and most powerful dragonfly species and predatory insects in North America.  This is a male, which we know by his vibrant blue “waistcoat”.  Also, male Green Darners have prominent, angled, pincers at the tips of their tails (called claspers) used to hold onto the female during mating.

Gargantuan: This guy is absolutely huge!  You might get a sense of his size by comparison to the bricks.  To put his impressive size into perspective:  Adult males reach a body length of 7.5 cm, with an incredible wingspan stretching to 11 cm in breadth. This guy was all of that! Point of reference — their 7.5 cm body is the same length as an adult forefinger.  Their mass and strength combine to make them apex, aerial predators in the insect world.  Hard not to be in awe of this incredible species, non?  

’Til next time, y’all…

*Thank you, Theresa!