Male and female Eastern Amberwing dragonflies are among the smallest of the dragonflies with a body just under an inch long.
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The male Eastern Amberwings have brown and tan striped bodies and solid amber-colored wings.
[At the end of a stick coming out of the water is a small amber winged dragonfly with a striped body. The dragonfly is small, but visible at this distance.]

Here's a closer view of a male Eastern Amberwing.
[An eastern amberwing is perched on a leaf. The top of the head is brown while the lower part appears to be a light green. The thorax is striped brown and yellow. It's body is mostly brown with very thin light-tan stripes.]

Another male Eastern Amberwing. Even though the wings are colored, one can still see through them.
[An eastern amberwing is perched at the tip of a blade of grass. One can see a blade of grass in the distance through the wing of the dragonfly. One of the wings is positioned in front of the dragonfly's body, but the body is clearly visible through it.]

Another male Eastern Amberwing perched on a blade of grass (which gives you an idea of just how tiny they are!). Its appendages are light-colored matching the stripes on its body and the darker spots on the wings (pterostigma) are red.
[An eastern amberwing is perched at the tip of a blade of grass. This is a top-down back view with the wings spread to the side.]

The pterostigma on this female Eastern Amberwing are very red.
[The amberwing is perched at the tip of some vegetation. This is a top-down back view with the wings spread to the side. The four red pterstigma are visible while the background vegetation is visible through the clear sections of her wings. Her wings have sections of brown and yellow as well as the clear parts. The light sections between the segments of her body contrast with the copper-brown of her body.]

This is a young female. At first I thought it was a wasp until I was brave enough to get closer and saw it was an Eastern Amberwing.
(The Eastern Amberwings do mimic wasps in flight to divert the attention of predators.)
[An eastern amberwing is perched on a leaf. The body seems hollow as if its not yet fully formed. The wings are partially clear and partially colored but still very flexible-looking as if she recently hatched.]

This is a more mature female. The wings of the female are partially clear and have dark patches in addition to the amber sections.
[An eastern amberwing is perched on a leaf facing the camera. The eyes are maroon-colored while the rest of the face is green. The thorax is yellow and brown striped. The rest of the body is light brown.]

One can see her body through her wings as she perches on a tiny fogfruit flower.
[A side view with the body back away from the flower even as her feet in front of her hold it. Her body is visible through the clear sections of the wings closest to the camera.]

The back edges of the back wings of this female are very dark in comparison to the others on this page.
[A side front view of female dragonfly on a light-colored weed head. The clear sections of the back wings stop at a line of dark coloring which follows most of the back edge of the wings.]

This female appears to be doing a perfect handstand.
[A back view of female dragonfly perched on a light-colored weed head. Her body is nearly vertical with the tips of her hind end in front of two wings held upward with patches of brown and clear visible. The other two wings are perfectly parallel to the ground as she holds them horizontally in two perfect brown lines extending from her body.]

Continue to page 4 of 10 to see male and female Roseate Skimmer (pink) dragonflies.

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All photos © S. M. Garver