Dragonfly Wings

There was a dragonfly in a petri dish to be looked at under the microscope at one of the demonstration tables of the Belmont BioBlitz. I took a picture with my camera in ‘close up’ mode - without the microscope; the magnification is enough to make it interesting but I need to have better control of the light source to avoid reflections.

Even though butterflies are more generally colorful - I find the dragonflies more interesting. It is just getting warm enough to see them this season and observe their behavior: diving through the meadow and sitting on the tip of meadow grasses. Later we’ll see them near water on lotuses or water lilies and stroking over the water to lay their eggs. May camera speed is not fast enough to catch the two wings on each side moving independently.

The wing structure seen in the photograph could be a Zentangle. Are the lines veins or just structural elements?

Next time I go to Arizona, I’ll photograph my son-in-laws mounted collection of spiders and insects!