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Wandering Glider
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| [Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note |
It’s just too hot today (105 degrees F.) to go out and take photos. It is our 23rd day of 100+ and the forecast for the next few days is even hotter. So, today I am posting a photo I took a few days ago. I am also posting a couple of Workshop photos and I have a question on one… so I hope you will take a look.
Wandering Gliders are very strong fliers and seldom land. The hindwing is distinctly wider at the base than that of most dragonflies. They sometimes form large feeding and migratory swarms. They eat small flying insects, especially gnats and mosquitoes.
It is one of the few dragonflies in my area that I had not been able to photograph... until a few days ago. I went to the pond and they started swarming around me. I knew they would not land so I would have to photograph them in-flight. This one hovered in place long enough for me to get a shot.
I wanted the fastest possible shutter speed. I set ISO to 400 and used the widest aperture I could for the focal length I was shooting. A focal length of 200mm and aperture of f5.6 gave me a shutter speed of 1/4000s on this shot. (The background was a grassy area).
Wandering Glider (Pantala flavescent)
Identification:
This is the most widespread and cosmopolitan dragonfly in the region. It is distinctive with its predominantly yellow color. It has a pale yellow face that becomes reddish in older males. The thorax is olivaceous brown and largely unmarked. The wings clear with brown apices in the males. The legs are pale basally, becoming black for most of their length. The stout tapered abdomen is yellow with black stripes laterally on the swollen basal segments. There is a thin dark middorsal stripe that widens and becomes noticeably darker on segments 8-10. The pale caudal appendages are more or less bicolored in males, darkening in outer the half.
Size:
Total length: 44-51 mm; abdomen: 25-34 mm; hindwing: 35-42 mm.
Similar Species:
Spot-winged Glider (P. hymenaea ) has a distinct brown spot basally in the hindwing and is generally darker in color. Similar meadowhawks (Sympetrum ) have normal-shaped wings and parallel-sided abdomens. Saddlebag gliders (Tramea ) all have wide crossbands in the hindwings.
Habitat:
Permanent and temporary ponds, pools and other water bodies, including brackish ones.
Discussion:
The common name of this species may be the most appropriate of any of species. It is a strong flier, with a circumtropical distribution. It is found in nearly every contiguous state, extreme southern Canada, southward throughout Central and South America, the Bahamas, West Indies, Hawaii and throughout the Eastern Hemisphere, except for Europe. It is a strong flier that is regularly encountered by ocean freighters and a well-known migratory species. Because of its ability to drift with the wind, feeding on aerial plankton, until it finally encounters a rain pool in which it breeds, it has been called "...the world's most evolved dragonfly." It is generally more abundant in the fall when offspring from earlier in the spring migrate southward. They are often encountered in large mixed fe eding swarms, along with saddlebag gliders (Tramea), where they prey upon small flying insects. Males patrol territories of varying lengths 1-2 m above the water. Mating takes place in flight and lasts from 30 sec to an unusually long 5 min. Females lay eggs in temporary ponds or rainpools by tapping their abdomen to the water surface, alone or accompanied by the male. The larva can complete its cycle in as little as five weeks. It is not unusual, however to see females attempting to lay eggs on automobile roof tops, asphalt roads or other shiny structures that they mistake for water. They usually perch vertically on low stems and twigs, but sometimes they will perch horizontally with the abdomen depressed below the rest of the body. Eggs are deposited in ponds while flying in tandem straight over the water. Feeding swarms consist of both males and females in equal numbers over land and can occur at anytime from dawn to dusk. Early instars of the larvae are extremely tolerant to drough t, living several months in dry mud.
Distribution:
Throughout U.S. and southern Canada; West Indies, Central America south to Chile and Argentina; found on all continents but Europe and Antarctica.
Source: http://www.odonatacentral.org/index.php/FieldGuideAction.get/id/47465
Aperture = f5.6
Shutter = 1/4000s
ISO = 400
Focal Length = 200mm
Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM lens |
sandpiper2, Alex99, eqshannon, tuslaw, nglen, jusninasirun, jaycee, maurydv, Amadeo, red45, MMM has marked this note useful
Only registered TrekNature members may rate photo notes. |
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- tuslaw
![Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 511 W: 20 N: 1392]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/g-s-g.gif)
(4861) - [2008-08-02 19:20]
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Beautiful in-flight capture Ken,
Hello Ken,
Great image!! Very sharp and detailed with wonderful colors. You have chosen just the right settings in order to capture this exceptional shot.
Sorry I can't help you out with your question about the ones behavior, but maybe someone else can.
I have tried to get a shot like this, but it never seems to turn out. They seem to always move before I can focus and shoot.
Very informative notes! TFS.
Ron
Sometimes Ken...some real real good shots go un-noticed...not sure why that is, but this is way above anything I could do and a rare in flight....I know others have done this, but you did it so well..I had to tell you!
Bob
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- Alex99
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3585 W: 143 N: 5672]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/g-g-g.gif)
(18539) - [2008-08-02 23:47]
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Hi Ken.
Amazing set of wonderful in-flight shots. Every of them is perfect. Huge DOF and terrific timing. Stunning details and sharpness of the insect, amazing POV and fine colours. Superb job. Bravo.
Alexei.
Hi Ken
Brilliant shots, all of them. Can't help with the unusual behaviour, I've never seen them doing that. Hope it ccols down soon for you.
Brilliant capture, with amazing DOF considering the f5.6 you used. Great sharpness and background.
Chris
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- nglen
(32202)
- [2008-08-03 9:54]
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Hi Ken. This is an amazing inflight shot of the Dragonfly . You have managed to keep it in focus even good detail in the wings. natural colour. and a Good POV/DOF. I have had a look at the workshop and i dont know what its up to. well done TFS. with interesting notes too.
Nick..
Hello Ken. Amazing shot at 1/4000th of a second. I guess at this speed, you can freeze a bullet. Something that I really have to try. Stunning sharpness of a rare shot of a dragonfly in flight. Sharp detail and very well exposed and framed shot. Thanks for sharing and will definitely go to my theme and favorite. Regards. Jusni
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- siggi
(16330)
- [2008-08-03 10:13]
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Hello Ken,
A great capture.
The dragon is placed nicely within the frame.
Excellent colours and good sharp detail.
Very difficult to get as they move real qui
ck.Excellent,very well done.
Regards Siggi
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- jaycee
(21912)
- [2008-08-03 10:33]
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Hi Ken,
How wonderful to capture such a beautiful dragonfly in flight!!! A very pretty one too with such a colorful face. Details are superb. Wonderful position of the body and wings. A lovely background. Bravo!!
Jane
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- lise
(2875)
- [2008-08-03 10:46]
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Hi Ken,
This is an impressive action shot! The sharpness and details are amazing, wondeful colours and POV.
Here, it's been raining since June :(
Liz
Ciao Ken,
spettacolare cattura in volo (anche in WS), eccellenti POV, DOF e composizione con un meraviglioso BG che mette in risalto la nitidezza della libellula, fantastici i colori.
TFS. Maurizio
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- Amadeo
![Gold Star Critiquer [C: 211 W: 0 N: 755]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/g-n-n.gif)
(3323) - [2008-08-03 11:43]
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Hola Ken, excelente macro, dificultad del dinamismo muy bien resuelta.
Buena definición, luz y color.
Fondo bien desenfocado y con tonos de color suaves y agradables. Un saludo
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- red45
(30243)
- [2008-08-03 13:51]
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Hi Ken!
Looks like we took very similiar shots :-) Great picture with dragonfly frozen in time. High quality and excellent note.
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- MMM
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 921 W: 0 N: 1985]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/g-n-g.gif)
(8905) - [2008-08-06 13:29]
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Hi Ken
nice inflight composition.Good POV and sharp image.OOF BG is excellent.
TFS Michel
Hi Ken,
I like the photo very much - a wodnerful catch! Just around the head there is a postprocessing visible on the background.
Regarding the unusual pose/behaviour of the dragon in workshop, if it is a male (cannot say) then it may be transferring the sperm to secondary genitalia which are on the first and second abdominal segments.
Martin at dragonflies.cz