It’s still pretty early in the warm part of the year and there are a lot of youthful insects out there. That’s especially true when it comes to some of our longer lived ones, such as dragonflies. As with many dragonfly species, the male blue dasher (Pachydiplax longipennis) leaves the water marked like a female. As he matures, his color and markings change to become those of a typical male. Those changes take time, though, and not all the changes happen all at once. This immature male is starting to get the blue spotted eyes of the adult male, but the tops of the eyes are still the immature color of a deep, dark red. Also the thorax and abdominal body segments have a bluish tint instead of the immature colors of black and gold. I don’t know about you, but I think that this dragonfly is one of the most striking that I’ve ever seen. I especially love those eyes. Having these transitional eyes makes this guys a very unique and fascinating picture subject.