Dragonfly at Rest

I took my little point and shoot camera along as I weeded in the flowerbed yesterday.  That’s because if I take the “big” camera out, I never get any work done. ;) 

This is not the greatest photo to show you the dragonfly’s H-shaped wings, but you can at least tell that the wings stick out horizontally from its body. If you go back and compare with the damselfly photo, you will be well on your way to telling the difference between dragonflies and damselflies. And, Kaishon, you are correct.  Dragonflies and damselflies have four wings: a pair of forewings, and a pair of hindwings.  Since the wings are transparent, it’s a little hard to see all four from this view.

I am not certain what species this is.  They are very common in our yard, though.  I am going to check out several dragonfly field guides at the library this week.  (I always do that before I buy a new field guide, so I am sure to get the one I think is most helpful. You can see which dragonfly field guides I liked here.)

For some of my new readers who are enjoying the latest bug posts:  Kaishon, Naji, Alex, Hannah, Noah, and Cameron—hope you are admiring lots of cool bugs around outside that you never noticed before.  And, of course, for Misty, who is rather fond of dragonflies. :)