Common Whitetail

Common visitor to our garden. I never see a dragonfly actually *catch* anything and I think they're pretty voracious eaters. What's up with that?

Confirmed at BugGuide as “Plathemis lydia” or “Common Whitetail”; http://bugguide.net/node/view/1442579
Species page » http://bugguide.net/node/view/603

1 year ago (“Holdout”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2016-07-28
2 years ago (“All's well that ends well…!”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2015-07-28
3 years ago (“A safe ‘harbor’”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2014-07-28
4 years ago (“Out of the mist [SOOC]”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2013-07-28
5 years ago (“Sculling at dawn”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2012-07-28
6 years ago (“The house that built me…”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2011-07-28

[ IMG_7227S12x9Otm :: f/11 :: 1/40" :: ISO-200 :: 250mm ]

[Jane Anderson]

It's a beauty! I often see them chewing on a plant. Perhaps they're herbivores?

[Thom Mitchell]

@janeandcharlie Alas, from the BugGuide page, "Adults feed on flying insects."

[Lisa Pouncy]

Fab shot. I have seen them chowing down on other insects but never been able to catch a shot of one xx

[Thom Mitchell]

@psychographer It would be quite a catch (it seems) if we could capture it "on film"! (I wonder how long the obsolete technologies of "film" and "tape" will continue to be in common usage for recording images and audio/video.)