Isn’t he a beauty? I don’t know what the feller is called. He was perched on the tip of a dried branch in the wilderness, his tiny legs holding on to it with such dexterity. Isn’t he so colorful with orange-tinted wings, a reddish body, not to mention the shades of purple and yellow you can see on his otherwise apoplectic looking red face?! He stood out so starkly against the green surroundings at Ponmudi, that my eye immediately plucked him out of the surroundings.

That made me wonder how he saved himself from predators. But perhaps he has secrets for saving himself of which I know nothing about, especially since I am an ignoramus when it comes to the tricks dragonflies have up their sleeves to outwit their enemies. Perhaps he masquerades as an inedible specimen. I am told butterflies do that a lot to save themselves from being gobbled up. Can’t blame them. Who  in their right minds would enjoy being stewed in digestive juices in someone else’s tummy? Anyways, perhaps his bright color does indicate he is indeed inedible? I have it on good authority that, that too is a common enough occurrence in nature. In that case anyone who catches him might end up being the real loser.

All this is just idle speculation on my part, aided by a fertile imagination. Let me reiterate I know absolutely nothing about dragonflies other than the fact that they have such lovely gossamer wings, almost fairy like. In addition, I love clicking them. So if any blogger knowledgeable about them comes along and enlightens me as to what this little fellow is called, I’d be grateful, as I have been unsuccessfully Google-ing to find more about him.

Updated on 21/11/2013 to add:

This dragonfly is called the Crimson Marsh Glider, scientific name, Trithemis aurora