Not nature photos ...

... some scanned drawings, mostly ancient history. Geocities is going down the tubes in another month so it's time to give these pictures a new home.

Autumn Meadowhawk (Sympetrum vicinum)

The last of the autumn dragonflies, these little guys hold out until the first hard frosts. The first two photos are dorsal and lateral views of a male. The abdomen of a male Sympetrum vicinum is relatively thin and lacking in strong black triangular lateral markings.

Based on color alone, the immature dragonfly below might be mistaken for a female. However, the claspers identify it as a male; also note the girth of the abdomen, nor is an ovipositor is visible ... compare this image to the photos of the females. The hamules distinguish this meadowhawk from other Sympetrum males (the camera I'm using has limits and I can't get a closeup).

A female consuming her prey. The first few abdominal segments are more robust than those of other female meadowhawks; also note the triangular ovipositor, easily seen in the field. The yellow legs are another distictive field mark of both males and females. They turn brownish with age but are not black like the legs of other local Sympetrum species.

Closeup of the female's distinctive ovipositor

A mating pair in the wheel position

Closeup of the male's claspers gripping the female

Giant Ichneumon Wasp (Megarhyssa macrurus)

Despite the female's fearsome appearance these large wasps cannot sting. Their long ovipositors are used to deposit their eggs within the wood of decaying trees on the larvae of the woodboring Pigeon Horntail (Tremex columba).

Lance-tipped Darner (Aeshna constricta)

One of several local species of Mosaic Darners, this specimen is a male, found downtown, presumably stunned by a collision with a vehicle. After being photographed he was released in a secluded place in a garden to recuperate.

Front and lateral views. The ruler in one of the photos gives an idea of the size of this eye-catching and attractive dragonfly, this one is about 80 mm long.

Lateral and dorsal views of the terminal abdominal segments

Reptiles of the Riverbank

Tame and harmless, the Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis) is a common denizen of our fields and gardens. This one measured a little over a foot long, a fully grown snake can exceed two feet.

A smaller snake, only a few inches long.

Another youngster, a Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina). When fully grown this turtle can measure over two feet in length and weigh in at 70 lbs ... and needless to say it won't be as docile and easy to handle.

Red Clover (Trifolium pratense)

... with four leaves. Uncommon, occurring about one in ten thousand times, but it happens. More than four leaflets are possible, I have found several specimens with five and one with six. The highest documented count is twenty-one (Shigeo Obara, Japan).

A couple of days after I took the photos of the four-leaf clover I stumbled across a five-leaf. Not in very good shape, it looks like the grasshoppers found it before I did.

Halloween Pennant (Celithemis eponina)

The Halloween Pennant is one of our most colorful dragonflies. The reddish tint on the wings, and red pterostigmata and abdominal stripe indicate this is a male. This dragonfly has a weak, fluttery flight reminiscent of a butterfly.

A front view

Time to clean up. There was a spiderweb on the perch, and some of the strands were sticking to the dragonfly's eyes and legs.