Can anyone ID this from the bug lovers thread?
I have "yoga fly" stuck in my head and would like to replace it with the real name.....

http://garden.org/thread/view_...

Eastern Amberwing - Perithemis tenera female.

Look at top photo, the amount of black around the wing tip seems to vary.

http://wildflorida.info/specie...

http://bugguide.net/node/view/...

That was FAST!
Thank you.

Why the pose, JR? Is she signaling a male perhaps?

She may well have been receptive to mating, moth females do the same thing.

I found a pdf on spatial learning of dragonflies, females only visit the site where they will lay their eggs when they are ready to do that. It would be interesting to know if there was water nearby where she might have laid her eggs.

http://thekeep.eiu.edu/cgi/vie...

Thank you Janet. I love learning new things about bug behavior, especially if it is a behavior i have never observed before

That was my photo so thanks, Janet! Critter is faster than I am. Plus, I've been asleep. It has been raining for the past ten days or so and we have major flooding in the area so there are plenty of places she can lay eggs. And I hope she does! Mosquito control is already out there spraying.

On hot, summer days, they may lower their wings to shade their thorax and point their abdomens skyward to reduce direct contact by the sun’s rays.

So that might be your answer!

Melanie, different dragonflies use different type of waters for breeding. I think this statement indicates their preference for laying eggs:

Look for them near quiet or very slowly-moving waters.

https://www4.uwm.edu/fieldstat...

We could do with rain! I didn't know you had mosquito control, it must be horrendous. I found some history on it ..

http://mosquito.ifas.ufl.edu/F...

I wondered how control is achieved as mossies lay in stagnant or still waters usually, found some info ..

http://www.volusia.org/service...

How do they spray in your area and what do they use?

Janet, you ask a lot of questions! That must be how you get so smart!

I didn't know drgaonflies would angle their bodies like that for warming or cooling purposes. Butterflies do the same thing, but not nearly as dramatically!

The property behind me has 6 acres of wetlands so mosquitoes are always going to be a problem. And I have a huge collection of bromeliads so I'm sure that doesn't help. My county doesn't give too many specifics on what they're actually spraying but I did read that they use Permethrin as a barrier spray. I bet they also use the bacterial sprays which is bad news for my caterpillars. Here's the FAQ page for the county's mosquito spraying program: http://www.hillsboroughcounty....

I just saw in the news that some of our sentinel chickens tested positive for West Nile Virus so that always makes everyone crazy and you get idiots who go out in their yards and poison everything.

You could be right, I do have an inquiring mind.

One of the main problems with mossies, apart from them wanting blood, is they transfer disease.

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/W...

It must be very difficult to deal with, and my thoughts were also on how many other insects or wildlife are affected.

In the link you provided, under #3 "What is larvaciding":

Chemicals used vary from specialized pesticides to insect growth regulators (IGRs) to environmentally friendly bacteria-based biological larvicides.

The environmentally friendly bacteria-based biological larvicides must kill off other larvae.

We don't have many mossies, but they are here. My water barrel which takes water from a shed roof is a breeding place for them, I guess the hole which the pipe goes into it could be sealed but as they aren't a huge problem at least they will be food for some birds. I've seen eggs in my pond, and in other places where small amounts of water has stood.

"Super Sleuth" seems accurate!
You go, girl!