Autumn Meadowhawks are not birds of prey. They’re just small dragonflies
…and that’s a good thing.

Autumn Meadowhawks are less than 2 inches long. Immature males and females are a dull yellow-brown but as the males mature they turn red. They are also known as Yellow-Legged Meadowhawks because of …ah, go ahead and guess.

Sympetrum vicinum

I hate getting chewed out when my wife puts me on the carpet but I can take it. Having my head bit off by the dragon lady on the lawn is a whole other story.

Let’s forget my wife for now and get back to the legs. First if you ever find yourself being hugged by multiple pairs of hairy yellow legs you’ll never get a chance to bend over and kiss your behind goodbye. You’ll need a head to do that. Secondly, as males mature their legs turn darker brown-red. While the yellow legs of Autumn Meadowhawks are one clue to identification they are not always accurate.

It must be very early in the Autumn Meadowhawks fight. I’ve only seen a couple of red colored males so far out of dozens of these dragonflies over the last few of days.

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Images are linked to larger pics (1024 x 768) for a closer view and/or to use as desktop wallpaper. No other use is implied – keep that in mind if you don’t want your head bitten off.

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You’ll have to excuse me. I have to go. My wife is calling me out to the woodshed. She saw that dragon lady crack and I’m afraid it isn’t wood she wants to split.