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Robber Fly takes down Common Pondhawk

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Posted by Charles Mills on July 19, 2009 at 10:15 PM
Robber Fly takes down Common Pondhawk
Today's temperature was unseasonally mild for southwestern Arkansas in July and that made for a pleasant hike this morning. Sadly, I found nothing new to photograph. So, I decided to go back into the archives and dig up a photo that I took last year of a robber fly (Triorla interuppta) and its prey-a Common Pondhawk. I liked the image because of how well the fly blended in with the background. The camouflage proved deadly to the dragonfly whose blue thorax and abdomen provided a splash of color to the otherwise monochromatic image.

Technical info: Date: 7/13/08, Time: 11:30:02 AM, Camera: NIKON D3, Lens (mm): 300, ISO: 800, Aperture: 14, Shutter: 1/250, Exp. Comp.: 0.0, Nikon SB-800 @ -1 2/3, Meter Pattern: Evaluative, Program: Manual, Focus Mode: AF-S, White Bal.: AUTO, ICC Profile: Adobe RGB (1998), NEF processing: Capture NX2, Gitzo 3540LS tripod. Image cropped some.
Posted by Wayne Rhodus on July 20, 2009 at 5:14 PM
A vivid reminder that in nature it's eat or be eaten. The robber fly does blend nicely with its surroundings. Thanks for digging this one up from the archives Charles.