We have them here.
As you say, they tend to come back to the spot they left, if disturbed.

Their whole body is bright white. I'm sure you've seen them, too. I remember seeing them when I lived in Mississippi, too. Common as dirt throughout these United States, and yet so exquisitely beautiful at the same time.

Thanks for sharing.

Dragonflies are some of the hardest insects to capture on film. They generally don't stay too long in one place and they are sooooo fast.

Here is one that I took a couple of years ago hiking in the U.P. of Michigan in Craig Lake State Park. Craig Lake Park is the most remote of Michigan's state parks and is a pristine area with a nice hiking trail around the lake of about 8 miles. I am not sure of the species of Dragonfly this is but it was big (at least 3" long) and absolutely was checking me out thus allowing me to get this shot.

If I had to guess, based on my googling skills, you got a shot of a juvenile Hine's Emerald Dragonfly, so rare it's on the endangered species list. It only lives in remote parts of Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin (and one teeny remote location in Missouri). Craig's Lake S.P. is right in the heart of its prime territory.

Check it out! This page gives a map to its primary territory and the Page 1 link gives photos and description for identification. This is a very cool photo!

http://www.hinesdragonfly.org/

Thanks intheflow. It certainly looks as though it maybe a type of Hines Emerald Dragonfly...

All I know it was big and quite amazing to see live. He didn't stay put too long... about two or three minutes...but as you can see I was able to get a very high quality shot of him.

I do a lot of hiking and always bring my camera.... everything in nature is a potential photo. As far as insects go though... I have found Dragonflies and Pray Mantises to actually have an interest in studying you as you study them. They seem to have a different level of consciousness.

Anyway.... I have a couple more of this guy... and now that you have tweaked my interest in the species... I will do some research myself on the HED..... I will be going on that same hike sometime before the end of the summer. I will certainly be looking for them again.

On that same hike I took the photo of this spider..... another truly fascinating creature. The best identification I could narrow it down to was an "Orb" spider... most likely a "Garden Orb" ... the closest match I found was a spider in Australia!! Very close to the same markings...but the colors on the legs were a bit different. But how could two spiders on opposite sides of the earth be related? Kinda mindboggling....

Did correspondence with experts in the field and it turns out to be a

Blackwater Clubtail Dragonfly!

There are many types of Clubtail...but here is a link that shows a few...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gomphidae

The most striking feature of your photo are those emerald-green eyes. All the clubtail shots at your link and on the google image search show dragonflies without those green-green-green eyes. But I admit, the body markings are much closer to your shot, and if the experts are saying it's not the rare Hine's, then I guess that's it. Still a cool picture. I like the spider shot, too!

But after looking at several different pictures of the many Clubtails out there... there are a few that have those green eyes.

i never could find a way to ID them. we had a very large one visit the 3rd floor of our stained glass studio near the milwaukee river. looked like it could handle the great lakes.

Unless you don't mind---in which case you should be a good host and bring out the salad dressing!!

You are lucky to get such a great shot. I have always been stymied by dragonflies and all their flitting around.

Do they also eat plants?

I think they are insectivores, will google!

But I probably read it in my 3rd grade earth science class, now *mumblemumble* years ago. Thought it possible science had discovered in the intervening decades that they also ate plants.

Beautiful.

they have big round like a ball puffy white flowers like dandylines. I haven't seen any dragonfly's near them, though. I don't have a digital camera so I can't show you, sorry.

Onion breath.

BUT my cat loves to play with them, to death.

She does not eat them but brings them onto my back porch for me to clean up.

This does not bother me but the baby rabbits, or rather their tufts of fur, does, a little bit anyway.

was my first dragonfly this year. I haven't seen this species (?) before...usually I see blue and red ones. Thanks