Today I saw the dragon-fly

Come from the well where he did lie...

Thro' crofts and pastures wet with dew

A living flash of light he flew

                                   -Alfred Lord Tennyson

Dragonflies belong to the order Odonata, of the class Insecta.

Carolina Saddlebag (Tramea carolina), Ashmore Heritage Preserve, SC

Blue Corporal (Ladona deplanta), male, Ashmore Heritage Preserve, SC May 4, 2012. Named "corporal" for the two stripes on the thorax.

Blue Corporal (Ladona deplanta), female, Ashmore Heritage Preserve, SC April 10, 2012

Painted Skimmer (Libellula semifasciata), Crabtree Falls, NC

Unknown Spiketail Dragonfly (Family: Cordulegastridae), Ashmore Heritage Preserve, SC April 10, 2012

Lancet Clubtail (Gomphus exilis), Ashmore Heritage Preserve, SC April 10, 2012 

Stream Crusier (Didymops transversa), Ashmore Heritage Preserve, SC April 14, 2012

Calico Pennant (Celethemis elisa), male, Ashmore Heritage Preserve, SC, May 4, 2012 

Calico Pennant (Celithemis elisa), female, Ashmore Heritage Preserve, SC May 4, 2012 

Eastern Pondhawk (Erythemis simplicicollis), Ashmore Heritage Preserve, SC May 5, 2012

Common Green Darter (Anax junius), Seabrook Island, SC October 2011