Tuesday, July 9, 2013

What is that dragonfly doing?

This immature male White-faced Meadowhawk was on a railing in Stratford on another hot morning as the temperature once again made a run past 90 degrees. What is it doing and why?!


Dragonflies are thermoregulators as their temperature is regulated by the air around them. On a cool or cloudy morning you will often see them flat on a sunny rock or perched horizontally on a blade of glass in order to gather up as much of the sun's warming rays as possible. This dragonfly is obelisking, pointing its abdomen right towards the sun, in order to better control or even minimize the heat of the sun warming it up as it could become too much on such a hot day. He definitely should move to the shade soon because wow, Connecticut is back to the usual much above average temperatures.


Scott Kruitbosch
Conservation Technician

Photos by Scott Kruitbosch © Connecticut Audubon Society and not to be reproduced without explicit CAS permission

No comments:

Post a Comment