Not every day that one sees an Emperor having lunch.
The wind is quite hectic today, and the place to get the big birds is in the lee of the mountains. So, although I did get some big birds I got something much more impressive to show you here.
A dragonfly having lunch.
Come and look.
The king of our dragonflies came flying in over the dam and I watched him closely.
Yay! He found a suitable spot to hang and while taking the photos in quick succession, I didn't see the bug in his mouth.
Imagine my delighted surprise to see the bug when I transferred the photos from my camera to this PC.
He is a Blue Emperor (Anax imperator) of the Aeshnidae family.
They are fast eaters and in moments that bug disappeared into his stomach.
They frequently fly high up into the sky in search of prey, which includes butterflies, other Odonata and tadpoles; small prey is eaten while flying. They breed in a variety of aquatic habitats from large ponds to dikes, but they require a plentiful supply of vegetation in the water. The females lay the eggs into plants such as pondweed, and always lay alone. The larvae are very aggressive and are likely to influence the native species composition of colonized freshwater ecosystems. The adult male is highly territorial, and difficult to approach. In the summer months emperor dragonflies are frequent visitors to gardens, being especially prevalent in the southern counties of Great Britain.
Source
Although they say that the dragonfly is "especially prevalent in the southern counties of "Great Britain", they are equally prevalent in South Africa where I took photos of this one.
Done! Lunch was over and he took off in a flash.
I started my photography habit years ago by concentrating on dragonflies, as a professional photographer told me that if I could get good shots of dragonflies, then the bigger things in nature would be easier to get. So I bought some books about dragonflies and studied their behaviors.
He was right and to this day I still take photos of dragonflies
South Africa has 11 species of the aeshnid family and I have posted many of them in my time here on Hive.
The term dragonflies are commonly used to refer to the Order of insects known as the Odonata, which comprises of two suborders-Anisoptera (true dragonflies) and Zypgotera (damselflies). Many make the mistake of calling damselflies dragonflies, but they are not the same, even though they all belong to the Odonata Order.
The last quote was taken from my book: Dragonflies and Damselflies by Warwick & Michele Tarboton. ISBN 978-1-77584-184-5
And That's All Friends.
Photos by Zac Smith-All Rights Reserved.
Camera: Canon Powershot SX70HS Bridge camera.
