Male Blue Corporal Dragonfly

It is nice to see the dragonflies out again. This one was perched on out boat dock between its periodic forays along the lake shore. It is a male Blue Corporal (Ladona deplanata), perched with its wings cocked forward in a characteristic fashion. It can be identified by its blue body and the black and yellow stripes at the base of its wings. I suppose it is these stripes that are the basis of its common name “Corporal”. The female is very different in color pattern as seen in the photograph below. Famales still have the “corporal” yellow and black stripes at the base of their wings, however.

Blue Corporals usually perch on the ground or another flat surface, and they make many short flights to protect their territory from other males of the same species or to hunt flying insects. Many other dragonflies perch on a tree branch or the upright portion of a plant where they get a good view of the territory they are patrolling.

Female Blue Corporal dragonfly