beautiful! do you have a pond?

a big red guy shows up every year to take over the job of Supreme Commander of my biggest pond. he will let the little blue damselflies hang around but no way can another dragonfly come near without an instant fight. he is on guard every minute- i don't ever see him eat. min

There's a big pond at my office and we get these guys. They're fun to watch. If I'm not mistaken, I think we get greenish/blue ones too. Are they dragon flies?

I don't have a pond anywhere, but dragonflies perch on the tops of my tomato cages during the hottest part of the summer. I think the young must grow up in the local creek?? They've just shown up here and there so far, but in July it seems like you can always find at least one in my garden. They're hunters, so I think they're probably helping with insect control, including eating mosquitos (though they're indiscriminate, so they could be getting bees too).

One of our now gone cats was very good at catching dragonflies which he claimed were delicious and he only left the wings. Al

Heh heh- Al! Yummy dragonflies. The big green and blue ones are also dragonflies. We used to get one that would perch on the antennae of my mom's '59 Olds 98. Every year. Genetic memory?

That looks like the dragonfly called a Flame Skimmer, Libellula saturata. They like to perch on the tops of upright sticks. In my yard they perch on the 1/4" diameter flower supports.

And yes, dragonflies eat gnats, flies, mosquitos, ants, termites, and bees. The young aquatic nymphs eat mosquito larvae. So they're not only pretty, but helpful to have around.