of the wings and abdomen, that is. This is the third post in this series. The teneral adult dragonfly has now nearly completed pumping up it's wings and the abdomen has also stretched and enlarged considerably. Because the adult has now moved around the stalk slightly to stay out of the direct wind (i.e. to stay on the side of the stalk that a flag would to avoid damage to its very delicate wings) the background is now much less distracting than early in the process, but the exuvium (old larval skin) is now hidden.
Canon 40D, ISO 400, natural light, 1/200s, f/14.0, tripod, full frame
Thanks Anita, The wings are expanded by pumping blood into them, and the segments of abdomen also expand into a more elongated shape. Like most insects it does most of its physical growth during these changes in life stages when it emerges from the exoskeleton (which limits it physical size because it is hard). At these stages, like this dragonfly's change from a larva to a adult (called a teneral), its body is soft and able to expand...after a few hours, it hardens again and for dragonflies, that is the size it will remain as an adult.
Thanks very much everyone. Dan, I think it is a Saffron-winged Meadowhawk, but I haven't yet sent the series to my friend at the Royal BC Museum for verification.