When the mating is done, damselflies have to decide where to deposit the eggs. Who decides? In many damselfly species, the male remains attached to the female as she deposits the eggs in vegetation or in the water, so I would assume that it is a joint decision of sorts.
When I observed this pair of dragonflies flying around together this past weekend at Jackson Miles Abbott Wetlands Refuge, I decided to try to track them and see where they chose to land. Would they choose a solitary spot where they could be alone or would they choose to join their friends in a post-mating frenzy at a popular hangout? They chose the former, perhaps because the hangout had reached its maximum capacity.
These may be Slender Bluet damselflies (Enallagma traviatum), although I must confess that I don’t have great confidence in my identification of bluets, which all look pretty much the same to my untrained eye.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Joint decision? I don’t know Mike. I’m thinking the female gets two votes?
Wow photos.
Wow! Strking Mike!
Awesome shots, especially that last one. 🙂
Thanks, Ed.
Fantastic pictures. Keep up the great work.
Thanks. I tend to be an opportunistic shooter, taking photos of what I happen to observe. I’ll do my part in going out often and with a little luck good photo ops will continue to happen.
I’ve never seen so many in one spot before.
I’m not sure what was so special about that plant, but all of the damselflies seemed attracted to it.