Dragonfly invasion!!!!

Andy & Fly_girl,

That big old spider, like yours, almost made me drop my camera. I was getting a close-up shot, then went to a fast zoom in. I thought it was jumping on me!

Rod

I believe the spider is an Arglope garden spider. Have you ever seen one of these spiders flex their web? Have one in the pump house and this morning I was working around it trying not to disturb it. If you disturb the web and they think it is a bug, they run out to check then back to the center. After a couple of tickles on the web, to will start flexing and make the web move back and forth. It is cool...

Very nice shots of the D~flies all. I have never captured a picture of one but they are my favorites. Thanks pod

Great shot, Rod.
Yes, Podster. Last summer I was trying to get a close-up of mine and tickled the web by accident. She was in the center and made the web undulate back and forth. At first I thought it was accidental, but soon realized the spider was intentionally doing it. So cool.
Obviously, I had to wait for another time to get a pic, lol.
I see small ones around this year, maybe one will get large enough to put on a show again. For the 'not too queasy', here is a thread of mine about the babies on my little photo site. (You have to click on the individual image links.)
Andy P

Thanks for the info and identification on my pics Rod

Haha Rod, that would have scared me too!

I have a lot of the female Arglope this year.

Also have a lot of these Common Whitetails

Geez, I failed to include the link in my last post, duh. I'll have to find it again, lol.
I have this one, no ID yet.
Andy P

Andy, that looks like a female Widow Skimmer. They're called that because the male doesn't stay around the female when the eggs are layed.

Thanks for the ID Fly Girl. Now I can label the pic in my files.
Here is the thread I failed to post about Argiope spiders.
http://dailypics.ning.com/forum/topic/show?id=650124%3ATopic%3A12292
My site has been up & down today, don't know why.
Andy P

We have had a ton of dragonflies in FL this year as well. My husband and I were commenting on that the other day. I had no idea that it was this way in othere states! The younger ones seem to be neon blue - they are so bright you can see them from across the yard!

I will try to take some pics this weekend a post them.

Love the pics you have posted here!!

Fly_girl,

Attached is a pic of a female Common Whitetail taken today. I really like the interplay of colors and textures provided by the rock edging our flower bed. I am seeing more dragonflies this year than ever before.

So far I have been able to get both male and female of each, with the exception of the Widow Skimmer. I have the female but have not seen a male.

This years heavy concentration of dragonflies is the only thing that is keeping the mosquito concentration somewhat under control. They are terrible but would be much worse otherwise. Our subdivision is having to do our own spraying - no help from the city or county.

Rod (mate of 8)

Rod - That's a wonderful photo. Perhaps you could add it to bugfiles! :-)

I have never done much toward IDing my dragonflies, I just get a kick out of watching them. And every now and then, one will let me get a decent picture!

Hanky-panky

I'm not sure "where" I heard this but I heard that the Chinese say that if a dragonfly lands on you that you have a "good heart" or "you're good at Heart" ... so I was pleased when my mother added a gragon fly ornament to my Fathers grave, he did have a good heart, fantastic man.

Love all your posts and pix. I am dragonfly all the way. I collect them in any form from ceramic to jewelry. If I ever get a camera I will post pix. Thanks Bev

momo, I've never heard that one, but there are so many interesting myths and folklore around dragonflies. The most interesting to me is that they are sometimes called 'snake doctors'. People used to believe they 'tended' snakes because some can be seen perching on a snake's head that is protruding from water.

fly, that is what they were called when we would see them on the Paluxy River when I was a girl. Never heard anyone else call them that. We are sisters....lol

Haha, that's funny LouC, do people still call them that?

I'm so used to calling them "snake doctors" that I have a hard time remembering that they are actually........hmmmm......what is the name????

LOL, my dad used to take us fishing when we were kids and if a dragonfly landed on our poles, it meant we were going to get a bite soon. I remember getting a lot of bites.....but I think it was more because we used worms as bait.

The weirdest belief is the devil could take on any shape and the dragonfly was his favorite. That would tend to hurt ones reputation! Mostly, it seems, dragons are seen in a positive light.

I don't know if this fits in here but I got this big Fishfly yesterday.

Closer.
Andy P

This one was following me around yesterday while we cleaned out the herb garden!

Can anyone identify these two beauties? They have been hanging around for almost 14 years now and I've yet to get a positive ID. ;-)
I adore dragonflies!