Sammamish River Dragon, By John Reinke

BY JOHN REINKE / Shadow Darner Dragonfly

On a sunny day in mid-October, I photographed this dragonfly hanging from a purple aster blossom, less than 50 yards from the Sammamish River.  - John Reinke

NW dragonfly expert Jim Johnson says....  Read More >>

" This is a Shadow Darner (Aeshna umbrosa). This species and the Paddle-tailed (A. palmata) are both common in the fall throughout much of the Northwest, and they are very similar (like many of the darners) if you don't know what to look for.

" The clearest characteristic that I can see in your photos that points to Shadow Darner is that the last abdominal segment (S10, the one that the appendages are attached to) is all black. Paddle-tailed always (well, I'm hesitant to ever say "always" or "never" without a qualifier because of inevitable variation, but close enough) has blue spots on S10. "  - J.J. 

I contacted Jim Johnson to confirm the species.  Jim has a blog dedicated to NW dragonflies: http://nwdragonflier.blogspot.com/ . It'd be nice if you could give him a plug at the end of your post, where interested folks could go to for further information - if you feel like it.  - John Reinke