Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Dragonflies

Our time in Sweden, although short, was full of wonderful encounters and new places and landscapes.  While camping near Kalmar on the Baltic coast we were priveleged to see many dragonflies at close quarters.  They seemed almost tame and would sit on my finger without fear!
While walking along the shore one evening we came across this wooden box and puzzled over it's use until I noticed some dead looking insects on the outside.  I picked one up for closer inspection  and then noticed one with the insect in the process of emerging so took some photos to draw from later.  I was particularly interested to see the fine white hairs that supported the dragonfly as it started to open out the wings.  When we arrived home 4 weeks later, imagine my surprise when I found one of the creatures had stowed away in the camping car, sadly no longer alive, but now carefully preserved in a box to use for more drawings in the future!

6 comments:

  1. I researched dragon and damselflies yesterday for some kids in the neighborhood who are fascinated by them. This is a great picture to show them. Lovely work and wonderful detail

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  2. Valerie, thank you so much for posting this! It's beautiful...

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  3. Beautiful drawings, Valerie. Those fine white hairs are part of the tracheal lining .... part of the breathing process during the shift from a nymph to an adult. they are quite striking, aren't they.

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  4. What a wonderful experience Valerie. Thank you for sharing it. I have always loved dragonflies but still know so little about them. They seem as prehistoric as dinosaurs--and probably are! Wonderful sketch.

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