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The Blue dasher (Pachydiplax longipennis) is a dragonfly of the skimmer family. It is common and widely distributed in the United States.
Mature males develop a bluish-white pruinescence on the back of the abdomen and, in western individuals, on the thorax. They display this pruinescence to other males as a threat while defending territories at the edge of the water.[2]
Male Blue Dasher
Sandestin, Florida
These aren't out yet! Hopefully not too much longer ...
Winner 1st Place, You Rock! challenges, Anything, 4-11
Photo of the Day, Dragonfly Gallery, 4-21-11
The Long Dash?
Many grass skippers are so similar that I find it is impossible to positively identify grass skippers in the field. I researched and unsuccessfully attempted to identify some of the skippers that I had photographed. I found that they fitted the description for several species including the long dash. As I like the name long dash I have decided to tentatively identify them as this species until others correct me.
2016_09_14_EOS 7D_6450_V1
I think this is a blue dasher, if I am wrong , someone please tell me.
Thanks to those whom confirmed the ID and let me know that it is a male.
A companion macro of the male Blue Dasher, and the pair to start the rest of the dragon and damsel summer "series."
Very few macros are taken from behind the head of dragonflies. That's probably because the eyes are the most noticeable characteristic of dragons. The dragonfly uses 80+ percent of its teeny brain to see 360 degrees. Each eye has 30,000 cells which provides it with a mosaic of the world around it, but what the dragonfly is really tracking is movement and it is a successful hunter 95-97% of the time! It's no wonder this creature has been around for 330 million years! (Btw, 10 percent of the brain is used for flight. I assume that the other 90% is all about sex since that's what's left of its use of its short life span above water.
All that said - and it still truly fascinates me - there are few close up shots or macros that are of the back of the head or the muscles that control flight. The latter in this image are the segments behind the head and on top of the thorax. I suggest that you look up a You Tube video for "Dragonflies and Flight" or "Dragonflies and Hunting."
The same is true only on a slightly smaller scale for the only other member of the Odonata, the damselflies. They are the real gems and my goal is to get head-on closeups of damsels which are scary beautiful with the eyes better defined (there is a space between the eyes of damsels, and almost none with dragons).
The one question that I have left is ... what are the hairs for behind the eyes of the dragonfly? Well, nobody knows. Working in tandem with the three ocelli (smaller eyes) which are extremely sensitive to light intensity change, it is believed that their those hairs function are related with flight stability. But again, no one is quite sure. After all, when you're subject's brain is only a few cells, it's hard to communicate even with yes-no questions.
I also decided to try this macro because few images are of the odonates' wings from this point of view. Fortunately, the wings are so transparent in most species that you get rather good views of how four of the six legs are used for grasping and perching. The two smallest legs can be seen and are used mostly for brushing the eyes and cleaning the mandible after a meal. Considering the habitat of odonates, they are extremely neat insects, but so are flies if you want to carry this to extremes.
NS 822 with a very long coal train with 5 engines and 250 coal car blast through Petersburg. This was a really nice train for me because i like catch the dash 9 on NS before there all AC44C6M, and had a ACe throwed in there to.
NS D9-44CW 9587
NS D9-44CW 9619
NS D9-44CW 9463
NS SD70ACe 1019
NS D9-44CW 9682
Alexandria Dash 302, a 2011 hybrid Gillig 40' bus, on route 102 at King St-Old Town Metro Station in Alexandria on Thursday, June 9th, 2022.
I should be embarrassed to share this shot—my camera (or I) glitched—but I think it’s still pretty in a weird way.
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This is one of the rare shots that I have managed to get of Dash. True to his name, he barely sits still! He is only 18 months old and still very much a puppy :)
A collection of Dash 8's....
CN 2031 leads the south bound L532 freight over the WABIC Diamonds in Decatur, Illinois on a cloudy Saturday evening. Note the FRED hanging off the front of the 2031.
Locomotives: CN 2031, CN 2155, & GECX 7676.
- CN 2031 started life as CNW 8532, which later became UP 9054.
- CN 2155 started life as ATSF 840, which later became BNSF 840 and sold to the CN around 2010.
- GECX 7676 still wears the CSX YN2 paint scheme and original number, built in '91 for the CSX.
A 2002 Neoplan AN460, the city of Alexandria's DASH bus service bought 10 of these to be used during the summer 2019 shutdown of Metro's Blue line. These will only be in service until Labor Day 2019. They are currently being used as shuttles between Franconia-Springfield and Reagan Nat'l.
On the night of March 27, 1996 I had the scanner on and heard this guy requesting his meal enroute as he was coming through Rochelle, IL. By this time after the Union Pacific merger, the usual "beans at Dekalb" was denied. But on this evening, the dispatcher let him make the stop. Being a fan on the C&NW Dash 8's--and especially the only one that ended with the number '23', I made my way down to Dekalb to find them behind The Junction shopping plaza on the west side of town. A time exposure, coupled with a clear 25 bulb on the nose, produced this view of the C&NW 8523 and 8718 against the Northern Illinois night.
After arriving back into town, A700 pulls south of Junta to shove the train back into North Yard. The pair of Dash 3 EMDs sounded good with nearly 40 cars up the steep grade of the yard lead.
Blue Dasher in obelisk position to stay cool on a hot day in Southeast Texas yesterday. Was still over 90F in mid-October.
Alexandria Dash 801, a 2020 electric New Flyer XE40, on route 31 at the King St-Old Town Metro Station in Alexandria on Thursday, June 9th, 2022.
Santa Fe Dash 9-44CW 604, GP9 2292, GP20 3060, GP50 3818, SF30C 9519 and Dash 8-40CW 855
cross the flyover at Frost, California, bound for Los Angeles. Bringing up the rear are SD45 5349 and F45 5957.
A male blue dasher (Pachydiplax longipennis) perched on spatterdock plants along the Anhinga Trail in Florida's Everglades National Park.