Dragonfly larva

[Jonathan Ashton]

Canon 1DX Canon 180mm macro ambient light, ISO 4000 1/125 sec f11
Well I have got a little tank at last, about A4 sized base and say 10" tall.
I placed the tank on a table outside and used ambient light, I tried some with flash but the batteries went flat!
Now has anyone any idea what it is? Brown Hawker, Southern Hawker, Emperor??

[John Robinson]

Good photo Jon. Some sort of Aeshna but hard to tell. Its a really strange colour. never seen one as pale as this. Unless it altered to the bright surroundings. How big is it and what sort ofhabitat did it come from ?
John

[Jonathan Ashton]

It was in my garden pond, I guess it would have been about 2.5in long - I was surprised how big it was. I also have other dragonfly larvae - different soecies I will hopefully photograph them over the coming week or so but they are very much smaller - presumably due for metamorphosis next year as opposed to this. I think they will be broad bodied chaser and 4 spot chaser.

[John Robinson]

If its that big it may be in its second or third year and ready to "pop" Aeshna of some sort but as I say strange colour. Mine are more like dark green.
John

[Kaushik Balakumar]

Fantastic details there Jon. Very crisp image.
Perhaps a silly/newbie question: how did the larvae end up in the tank - do you harvest them ?

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Jon. Good to see you heading "underwater" again! John is correct that this is in the Family Aeshnidae. Over here we call these Darners (there are quite a few species) - not sure if it's the same where you are. The natural light gives this a little different look and it worked well for you. Very nice sharpness and detail. The one drawback I see is the stray hair (?) that crosses the back of its head and curves back to the thorax - this could be removed with some careful cloning. :S3: Looking forward to more of these!

[Jonathan Ashton]

Thanks folks glad you liked it I was quite chuffed when I saw it. Kaushik - yes I catch them with a toy children's fishing net. What I intend to do is fileter the water in the tank, when I catch the subjects I will put them in clean pond water and fromther transfer them to the tank. That way I think there will just be a small amount of detritus about to look realistec. I will persever with day light and also flash.

[Nancy Bell]

Wonderful details, and nice diagonal composition of the dragonfly larvae. I am envious of the dragonflies and nymphs that you have in your backyard :bg3:! Nice set-up added with the tank.