[Adastra] Dragonfly... and wasps!

[John Luck]

I think the secret of success is to move very slowly towards the 
dragonfly. You can then get very close to them. At a certain point, the 
dragonfly, which has a very complex eye structure, doesn't know you are 
there. I managed to attract a Common Darter on to my hand last Autumn 
and also a female Southern Hawker beside our pond, which fortunately 
didn't decide to start ovipositing. I have on occasions crawled on the 
ground to obtain a photograph. I think they are essentially attracted to 
light-coloured objects, thus will frequently land on clothing if 
light-coloured. Although, it looks as though your paint was white, I 
would think that the chaser would be more attracted to pale skin than to 
a small amount of white paint.  Also dragonflies need warmth to fly 
therefore will receive warmth from your bloodstream. From this analysis, 
I imagine white people will be more successful than black people in 
getting dragonflies to land on them. (Potential topic for a PhD.)

Interestingly, I believe you will find this is an immature male as the 
anal appendages, at the end of the abdomen, are much closer together 
than Stuart's photo, giving the male a slimmer appearance.

John

Dave Monk wrote:
> I had am interesting experience with a Broad-bodied Chaser last week.
> I had just been doing some painting. While i was waiting for the paint to
> dry, I decided to have a look around the garden. I came across a female BB
> chaser and took a couple of photos. I then decided to see if I could pick it
> up. I put my finger between it and the plant it was standing on and it stood
> on the end of my finger. I walked around the garden for half an hour with it
> perched on my finger. Wow... I could not believe it. They usually fly away
> for the slightest reason. I wounded since if it had something to do with the
> dry paint that was on my hand. Can anyone offer another explanation why it
> would let me do this?
> Photos are here.
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/29955043@N00/?xp=1
> Dave
>
>
>
>
> John Luck wrote:
>   
>> Broad-bodied Chaser, most certainly, Stuart, but I think you will find 
>> that it is a female. The anal appendages are set much wider giving the 
>> lower abdomen a much broader appearance than the male.
>>
>> We also had our first real dragonfly visit the garden pond yesterday 
>> which was an immature male starting to show the blue pruinescence. It 
>> arrived shortly after mid-day and was flying around holding territory 
>> perching on both the rosemary bushes and mimulus flowers at the edge of 
>> the pond and was still going strong when I left to go out an hour later.
>>
>> John
>>
>> Stuart Cooper wrote:
>>     
>>> Dragonfly seen today in my garden in Broad Oak - 
>>>
>>> http://www.altview.co.uk/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=241
>>>
>>> I've identified it as an immature male Broad-bodied Chaser, although I
>>> stand
>>> to be corrected of course.
>>>
>>> I've also discovered a newly built wasp nest in the front of my garage...
>>> As
>>> we are having a wedding reception in the garden in a couple of weeks,
>>> it's
>>> going to have to go. Any suggestions? I'm looking at removal/destruction
>>> as
>>> I don't suppose it can be relocated safely.
>>>
>>> Stuart.
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>
>