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Posts Tagged ‘damselfly ovipositing’

Slender Bluet damselflies

Posted in damselfly, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on June 26, 2024| 5 Comments »

After mating, many male damselflies hold on to the female as she deposits eggs in order to keep any rival males from interfering with the process. The male grasps the head of the female with the terminal appendages of his abdomen in the “tandem” position and the two linked damselflies move about from spot to spot as the female inserts eggs into floating vegetation.

Last Friday at Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge I managed to capture this image of a Slender Bluet (Enallagma traviatum) couple as the female arched her body, made a little slit in the vegetation and inserted eggs, a process known as “ovipositing.”

I am not absolutely certain I have correctly identified the damselfly species—there are a lot of bluet species—but I have made my call primarily on the basis of the markings on the abdomens of the male and the female. I intend to post this shot in a dragonfly/damselfly forum on Facebook and will update this posting if one of the experts in the group corrects my initial identification.

Slender Bluet

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Swarming damselflies

Posted in Autumn, damselfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, Travel, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , on November 9, 2022| 2 Comments »

I don’t know what was so special about this spot on the Colorado River in Bastrop, Texas, but lots of couples in tandem as well as some single damselflies were concentrated in one small area last week. I love the way that the reflections in the water of the various flying damselflies makes it look like there were twice as many damselflies as were actually present.

The couple in the second image found a somewhat more private spot where the female can deposit her eggs underwater in the vegetation, while the male continues to grasp her head.

damselflies

damselflies

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Eastern Forktail damselfly

Posted in damselfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on June 21, 2022| 11 Comments »

As I was visiting a small pond at Green Spring Gardens last week, checking to see if the lotus flowers and water lilies were in bloom, I detected some movement at the edge of the water. It took me a moment to spot some tiny Eastern Forktail damselflies (Ischnura verticalis) that were buzzing around the vegetation sticking out of the water. Eastern Forktails are quite small, about 0.8-1.3 inches (20-33 mm) in length.

I got down as low as I could and captured several images of a beautiful female Eastern Forktail. In the first shot, she perched and posed for me, so I had the luxury of carefully composing my shot. Click on the photo to see the wonderful details of this damselfly, including her stunning two-toned eyes. Eastern Forktails are quite small, about 0.8-1.3 inches (20-33 mm) in length.)

In the second shot, she was perching on the edge of a lily pad with the tip of her abdomen in the water. She was in the process of depositing eggs into the bottom of the lily pad or possibly into the stem of the plant.

As it turned out, it is still too early for the lotus flowers to bloom, though the plants were producing lots of leaves. There was one white water lily that was blooming, so the scene at the pond does not yet remind me of a Monet painting.

Eastern Forktail

Eastern Forktail

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

 

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Female Fragile Forktail photos

Posted in damselfly, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on April 25, 2019| Leave a Comment »

Odonata is an order of insects that includes dragonflies and damselflies. In general, dragonflies tend to be larger and perch with their wings held out to the sides, while damselflies are smaller, have more slender bodies, and most  hold their wings over the body at rest. I try to pay attention to members of both damselflies and dragonflies, but often spend more time with the latter group, because they are easier to find and photograph.

In the interest of equality, I decided to devote today’s post to some of the female Fragile Forktail damselflies (Ischnura posita) that I have observed this past week. The three images show female Fragile Forktails in three of their main activities—perching, eating, and ovipositing (laying eggs). I have no recent shots of the mating that precedes the ovipositing, so I will leave that to your imagination for now.

As you probably noted, the coloration of these lady damselflies varies. The damselfly in the first image with the distinctive markings is an immature female. As the females age, they acquire a bluish coating that is sometimes referred to as pruinescence, which you can especially see in the second image. The third image shows a damselfly arching her long abdomen as she deposits eggs in the debris floating on the surface of a small pond.

Fragile Forktail

Fragile Forktail

Fragile Forktail

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Blending in

Posted in Dragonflies, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, tagged , , , , , , on July 2, 2016| 3 Comments »

This female damselfly blended in almost perfectly with her surroundings yesterday as she deposited eggs in the shallow water at the edge of Mulligan Pond at Jackson Miles Abbott Wetlands Refuge at Fort Belvoir. I love the way that the shadows changed as she dipped the tip of her abdomen into the water.

I have real difficulties in identifying female damselflies, but in this case I am not too concerned.  I was so caught up with the colors, shapes, and lighting in this image that identification seemed of secondary importance.

damselfly ovipositing

 

damselfly ovipositing

damselfly ovipositing

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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