Friday, March 6, 2009

Dragonfly


I found this beautiful dragonfly caught in a spiderweb outside my back door last week. It was a huge as well as beautiful one, probably about 8cm long. Each eye was about a centimetre across! I haven't been able to identify it yet. The two photos below show its beautiful markings, reminiscent of Aboriginal art.


I had never seen this type before, so I freed it. While the spider concerned does need to make a living, she is of a good size (she's a Garden Orb Weaver) and I am sure can cope without quite so much dinner! Below you can see traces of web still wrapped around the wings. Fortunately, the dragonfly was able to break the strands after it had had a rest on a nearby rose-bush. If you are wondering where the spider was, she comes out after dark to make her web and goes to bed before light. She leaves the web up so she can have a good meal before she makes a new web the following evening.



This post is part of this month's Garden Blogger's Design Workshop, on Wildlife in the Garden.

4 comments:

Gardeness said...

Very cool photos. Glad you set it free.

Anonymous said...

Wow, that's amazing. I've never seen one that close. Actually, not sure I've actually EVER seen a real one.

Anonymous said...

Cool! Glad you freed it. Hopefully, it'll come back to you.

Anonymous said...

fabulous pics and the story compelling.

Even if there was mention of a spider!