July 17, 2013

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Insect Paparazzi: Eye of the Dragon

By Brian Malow

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This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American

I rarely get to shoot dragonflies as they hungrily patrol their airspace, never stopping to rest.

But sometimes they alight and, when they do, I'm there, camera in hand. This one is a Blue Dasher, scientific name Pachydiplax longipennis.  And, no, that species name, longipennis, actually means "long wings." Sorry.

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I've noticed, when disturbed by my approach, dragonflies have a tendency to return to the exact same perch. They'll fly off, circle around, and come right back to the same spot. So, if I'm patient and I move slowly, I can gradually approach, closer and closer, shooting as I go. Til I'm as close as my lens will focus, which is about 3.5".

I always wonder why they trust me - or, allow me, anyway - to get so close. Might I not be a predator? Clearly, they can see me with that big eye that never blinks. Why don't they fly away?

In this third picture, the extreme closeup, you can see the ommatidia - the individual units which make up the compound eyes of some insects, including dragonflies. Each ommatidium is a like a single pixel that makes up the dragonfly's visual world, and some dragonflies have nearly 30,000.

In addition to performing and giving science communication talks for NSF, AAAS, NASA, NIST, ACS and other acronyms, Brian Malow has produced science videos for Time magazine and audio pieces for Neil deGrasse Tyson's StarTalk radio show. He has blogged for Scientific American and worked in science communications at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. He can be found as @sciencecomedianScienceComedian.com.

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