American rubyspot on a long leaf. It is in the center of the photo, looking left, and surrounded by grass. This appears to be the female green form. The damselfly has a long, mostly deep green abdomen. Its head appears to have a green line between light-colored eyes and the thorax has a metallic green line in the middle between tan and brown markings. The wings are mostly clear with visible veining, except at the base where the wings are red. There is a tan line near the top of the wings and a thin black line at the top and a white tip near the end.

American rubyspot. Green form female. #AmericanRubyspot #HetaerinaAmericana #Rubyspot #Damselfly #Odonata #Insect #Animal #Nature #Photography #RockCounty #Wisconsin

A male American Rubyspot, Hetaerina americana displaying the bright metallic red on his face that is caused by the surface micro-structure rather than by pigments. As this species ages the facial colors may dull or darken. Many species of damselflies and dragonflies display bright structural coloration on their heads. A focus stacked image shot with a Mitutoyo M Plan APO 5x infinity objective and Nikon D850 DSLR camera.

A male #AmericanRubyspot #damselfly #Hetaerina-americana #CoxCreek,Albany,Oregon #Odonata #Insects #Zygoptera #Calopterygidae #Invertebrate #Entomology #FocusStacking #NikonD850 #ZereneStacker #BugPics #art #DamselflyPortraits #DragonflyPhotography #Structural/MetallicColors #SteveValleyPhotography

A female American Rubyspot damselfly, Hetaerina americana lighting comparisons on Cox Creek, Albany, Oregon, USA. The sun was just a few degrees off vertical, BEHIND the subject causing her wings to glow. I think this may be one of the most exquisitely beautiful creatures on this planet!

A female American Rubyspot damselfly, Hetaerina americana lighting comparisons on Cox Creek, Albany, Oregon, USA. The sun was just a few degrees off vertical, IN FRONT OF the subject making the pigmented spot look much darke, but it shows us that the darker pigmented areas on her body are actually structural colors that look metallic bronze.

Female #AmericanRubyspot #damselflies #Hetaerina-americana Lighting comparisons on Cox Creek #Albany,Oregon,USA
#Odonata #Insects #Zygoptera #Calopterigidae #Invertebrate #Entomology #SteveValleyPhotography #photography #SciArt #NikonD700 #200mmMicro-Nikkor #BugPics #DragonflyPhotography #Macro #Art

Forewing & hindwing spot pigmentation top & bottom views, a male American Rubyspot damselfly, Hetaerina americana on Cox Creek, Albany, Oregon, USA.

Wing spot pigmentation top & bottom views #AmericanRubyspot #damselfly #Hetaerina-americana on Cox Creek, #Albany,Oregon,USA
#Odonata #Insects #Zygoptera #Calopterigidae #Mating #Invertebrate #Entomology #SteveValleyPhotography #photography #SciArt #BugPics #DragonflyPhotography #Macro #Science #Art

A male American Rubyspot damselfly, Hetaerina americana on Cox Creek, Albany ,Oregon ,USA. It is easy to see how it got the name rubyspot. When the sun is angled just a few degrees behind the subject gives the wing spot an extraordinary glow. Each Spring I spend as much time observing this tiny population and and attempting to get close enough to get "fill the frame" photos. They are so wary that it only happens maybe one a week. Most days I only see a maximum of 3 males and I suspect that there are less than 10 males in this tiny population, but 2024 was my fifth year studying this population and it seems stable in exactly the same 100-200 meter stretch of Cox Creek. There is also a huge population of River Jewelwing damselflies, Calopteryx aequabilis along about 1 kilomter of stream.

A male #AmericanRubyspot #damselfly #Hetaerina-americana on Cox Creek, #Albany,Oregon,USA
#Odonata #Insects #Zygoptera #Calopterigidae #Mating #Invertebrate #Entomology #SteveValleyPhotography #photography #SciArt #NikonD700 #200mmMicro-Nikkor #BugPics #DragonflyPhotography #Macro #Science #Art

American Rubyspot finds a twig perch near Georgetown, Texas.
#damselfly #Americanrubyspot #odonata #odonate #insect #insects #bug #bugs #entomology #macrophoto #macro #macrophotography #photography #naturephotography #naturephoto #nature #damselflyphoto

A male American Rubyspot damselfly, Hetaerina americana on Cox Creek, Albany, Oregon, USA. The males in this population are very wary and only a very slow approach allows me to get close enough to shoot and I also always try and approach along the stream from the north to get the sun just a bit behind them to make the rubyspot glow. This is an incredibly small population, the most I have seen at one time is 3 and I estimate there are as few as 10 adults of each sex in the population each season. I started studying this population in May 2020.

A male #AmericanRubyspot #damselfly, #Hetaerina-americana on Cox Creek #Albany,Oregon,USA.
#Odonata #Insect #Invertebrate #BadAss #Predator #Zygooptera #Caloptrygiidae #Entomology #SteveValleyPhotography #photography #SciArt #NikonD700 #200mmMicro-Nikkor #BugPics #DragonflyPhotography #Science #Art

Two male #damselflies #AmericanRubyspot, #Hetaerina-americana & #RiverJewelwing, #Calopteryx-aequabilis share a perch overlooking their territories on Cox Creek, Albany, Oregon, USA

#Odonata #Insect #MacroPhotography #SteveValleyPhotography #Zygoptera #Science #SciArt #NikonD700 #Entomology

A female American Rubyspot damselfly, Hetaerina americana on Cox Creek, Albany, Oregon, USA.

A female #AmericanRubyspot #damselfly, #Hetaerina-americana on Cox Creek, Albany, Oregon, USA.

#Odonata #Insect #DamselflyPhotography #ExtremeMacroPhotography #SteveValleyPhotography #ZereneStacker #Science #photography #SciArt #NikonD810 #Entomology #FocusStack #MitutoyoM-PlanAPO-5xObjective

A female American Rubyspot damselfly, Hetaerina americana on Cox Creek, Albany, Oregon, USA. Nikon D700 w/200mm Micro-Nikkor.

A female #AmericanRubyspot #damselfly, #Hetaerina-americana on Cox Creek, Albany, Oregon, USA.

#Odonata #Insect #DamselflyPhotography #MacroPhotography #SteveValleyPhotography #WesternOdonata #Science #photography #SciArt #NikonD700 #Entomology

A male American Rubyspot damselfly, Hetaerina americana on Cox Creek, Albany, Oregon, USA

A male #AmericanRubyspot #damselfly, #Hetaerina-americana on Cox Creek, Albany, Oregon, USA.

#Odonata #Insect #DamselflyPhotography #ExtremeMacroPhotography #SteveValleyPhotography #WesternOdonata #Science #photography #SciArt #NikonD810 #Entomology #FocusStack #MitutoyoM-PlanAPO-5xObjective

A male
#AmericanRubyspot #damselfly, #Hetaerina-americana on Cox Creek, Albany, Oregon, USA.
#Odonata #Insect #DamselflyPhotography #MacroPhotography #SteveValleyPhotography #WesternOdonata #Science #photography #SciArt #NikonD700 #Entomology