The Reasonable Finnish Language - _TNY_5847
Dragonflies have these opaque cells (here black) on their wings which work to counter resonance in the wings, thus enabling them to fly faster. Most species have one spot, called a pterostigma, per wing and since they have four wings , they obviously have four pterostigma.
And then there is this guy. Counting the spots, you notice it has two per wing, totalling eight spots, right?
So why on earth did they name this one the fourspotted chaser (Libellula quadrimaculata)? And it's the same in other languages except four Finnish which has a name, "ruskohukankorento", which I think is in reference to the dragonfly's autumnal colours.
The reason, as pointed out by mike | MKvip.photo, is that the spots has got nothing to do with the pterostigma - it's actually in reference to the spots at the base of the wings.
This particular specimen was hanging out near the water at lake Långsjön in the Pradiset nature reserve on a visit there on Midsummer's Day.
The Reasonable Finnish Language - _TNY_5847
Dragonflies have these opaque cells (here black) on their wings which work to counter resonance in the wings, thus enabling them to fly faster. Most species have one spot, called a pterostigma, per wing and since they have four wings , they obviously have four pterostigma.
And then there is this guy. Counting the spots, you notice it has two per wing, totalling eight spots, right?
So why on earth did they name this one the fourspotted chaser (Libellula quadrimaculata)? And it's the same in other languages except four Finnish which has a name, "ruskohukankorento", which I think is in reference to the dragonfly's autumnal colours.
The reason, as pointed out by mike | MKvip.photo, is that the spots has got nothing to do with the pterostigma - it's actually in reference to the spots at the base of the wings.
This particular specimen was hanging out near the water at lake Långsjön in the Pradiset nature reserve on a visit there on Midsummer's Day.