The end of 2015 is almost here, so I’ve looked back over the year a lot recently. I’m going to share my “Best of 2015” photos with you all on Friday, but this is one of my favorites for this year:
Blue dasher obelisking
That’s a blue dasher dragonfly doing a behavior called obelisking, a behavior that helps dragonflies control their temperature. Because they are exothermic (= their body temps are more or less the same temp as their surroundings, aka they’re “cold-blooded”), insects often have to resort to behaviors to help them regulate their internal body temperatures. You’ll see many dragonflies in the obelisk position on hot days, pointing the tips of their abdomens directly at the sun. In this position, a dragonfly can minimize the amount of sun hitting its body and help keep itself a little cooler. If even that doesn’t work, they’ll start to look for shade and get out of the sun completely.
Just a few more days until the start of 2016! For those of you in the midwestern US, I hope you stay safe into the new year. The flooding in your area looks really terrible from afar, so I can only imagine what it’s like firsthand.
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Unless otherwise stated, all text, images, and video are copyright © C. L. Goforth
The Dragonfly Woman 
hello are you on twitter?
regards depalan http://www.iseeebirds.blogspot.com
Technically yes, as dragonflywoman2. I don’t tweet a whole lot anymore though… I post very occasionally when I’m at a conference or something. Otherwise it’s mostly just notifications of blog posts.
Hello there!
I came across you lovely blog while searching for damselfly cake toppers. I’m a pre-vet ento student engaged to a fellow ento student. Would you have any idea where I could find realistic and anatomically correct insect cake toppers?
I found next to nothing of that sort when I was married! I suspect you’ll have to make one yourself or find someone crafty to make one for you. Have you looked on Etsy? It’s a good place to start at least – and if you can’t find what you’re looking for, you can likely find an artisan who can make it custom for you.
Good luck!
Thank you!
From that camera angle, he looks like he’s standing on his head! Strong little guy! Actually it looks like he’s doing a hand-stand! I thought it was too funny, as I’m familiar with the obelisk position, and from this angle it doesn’t look like he’s obelisk! You must have been directly behind him and at the same level to catch that amazing photo! I’m not very good with camera,so I know the difficulty in capturing a clear image! This is definitely first rate!
Thanks!