Been trying out a new hobby, more on that later, but haven’t been able to keep my eyes off the insects that are around me. Here are some photos of dragons and damsels from tonight.
The nymphs, or naiads as they are called in the aquatic system, spend most of their life (some up to several years) under water and eventually climb their way up vegetation to morph into an adult. The picture below is of a dragonfly’s exuviae (i.e., the shed exoskeleton).
Below is a female damselfly laying eggs.
Some damselfly love…the male (above) deposits sperm in a pouch up near the base of his abdomen, then grasps the female and guards her while she bends her abdomen forward to pick up the sperm.
Hi again Kelley,
Admiring how well your photos show the mites hitching rides on these damselflies. The female of the last pair is especially well laden.
Joshua Stuart Rose, Ph.D.
Program Director
World Birding Center
Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park
Mission TX
http://www.worldbirdingcenter.org/sites/mission/index.phtml
956-584-9156 extension 236
joshua.rose@tpwd.state.tx.us
What is the difference between a damsel fly and a dragon fly?
In short and generally speaking,
Dragonflies are for the most part strong fliers, damsels not so much. Dragonfly eyes usually touch each other at the top of the head, damsels are generally separated by a space. Dragons hold their wings away and perpendicular from their body when at rest, while damsels hold them together above (parallel) to their body when at rest. Dragonfly forwings are different size/shape than the hindwings, damselflies have all four wings equal. Damselfly larvae have accessory gills near their anus (they are these big feather-like plates that help in respiration), dragonflies lack these.