Blue Dasher

Except for the Northern Great Plains, Blue Dashers are common south throughout most of Mexico. They are found in a variety of wetlands. Many hunted among the berry vines along Capital Lake in Olympia on 29 July 2018. The dasher in the first photo is a male, the one in the second image is female. Unlike Western Pondhawks, they infrequently perch on the ground.

Although dashers eat smaller prey than do pondhawks, they are fierce predators, They take over 10% of their body weight in prey every day. They are aggressive towards competing males, often raising their blue tails at them. Females lay up to 700 eggs in only 35 seconds. Odonata Central maintains that Blue Dashers are largest in the spring, with subsequent generations becoming progressively smaller in the summer and fall.