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The Damselfly is often mistaken for the normally much larger Dragonfly, however the Damselfly can be easily distinguished by their wings folding upright and parallel to the body when not in flight. They are tiny and easy to miss but can be quite striking in colour, such as this little subject I shot resting this afternoon. Miniature winged predators they are extremely beneficial to people often eating their entire bodyweight in misquotes during the course of one day. A myth still persists that Dragonflies and Damselflies can bite or sting, and while they have strong mouthparts for catching small insects, they are incapable of inflicting a bite to a human and are extremely docile. (click photos to enlarge)
I rarely get the chance to shoot damselflies due to their diminutive nature. Dragonflies tend to be larger and more robust giving themselves away. However you can often be right beside a minute damsel fly and not even realize they are there. I noticed this subject flying into the wind, and managed to track it to a resting spot. I braced my camera against a post and managed to get a few shots off.
- Pentax K-30
- DA*200mm
- F5.6
- 1/400th sec
- ISO 100