A Common Garden Dragonfly

This is the Blue Dasher,Pachydiplax longipennis also called Blue Pirate. I'm posting this article because I found a similar species from across the big pond, OK really big pond over in Malaysia. Sabah from the Dragons and Damsels blog posted a recent sighting of a Brachydiplax chalybea which looks a lot like our common Blue Dasher.

The above Blue Dasher male is obelisking. Males are IDed by the striping on the thorax and blue abdomen with the black tip. These are usually about 1 1/2 inches long on the small side for a dragonfly. This dragonfly shows up inthe spring and can be found commonly until late fall.
Females are much more plain as you can see from the photo above.

Here is a Blue Dasher emerging from the nymph stage by splitting from the exoskeleton.

It has just jumped out of its exuvia

Now the body and wing expand as it becomes an adult.

Here you can see red water mites covering the abdomen, this happens to a few dragonflies once in a while.
The male Blue Dasher perching on a friends yard art.