Common Blue damselflies mating - a perfect heart shape!

Roland Bogush
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Common Blue damselflies mating - a perfect heart shape!
Common Blue damselflies mating - a perfect heart shape!

This is a pair of Common Blue Damselflies 'in the wheel' forming a heart shape. Damselfly sex is complicated, so pay attention!

The (blue) male initiates the reproductive process by depositing some sperm from his primary genitalia near the tip of his tail onto secondary genitalia under the 2nd segment of his abdomen (just below his 'chest') . Grasping a female by the back of her head or 'prothorax', they fly around in tandem until she is ready to collect the sperm, which she does by looping around so she can collect the sperm with her genitalia located near the tip of her tail - which is what is happening in this picture. They can remain like this for a few seconds or a few minutes, and can even fly around conjoined like this. At some point, she will straighten out, and then they fly in tandem to a nearby stretch of slow flowing water where she will deposit her eggs. I believe that the eggs are not fertilized until they are laid, so it is important the male keeps hold of her until the eggs are deposited to prevent other males from mating with her. The damselflies play no role in caring for their offspring and, in fact, only live a matter of weeks in the winged form. The eggs hatch and develop over a few weeks and the nymphs grow, shedding their skins several times over at least one year, some species multiple years, until, when the time is right, the final 'instar' climbs up a plant stem and sheds its skin to emerge as the final, flying adult form - transitioning from water breathing to air breathing in the process. The adult forms only live for a few weeks, spending that time eating and breeding. Odonata (damselflies and dragonflies) are amongst the most successful animals on earth, surviving virtually unchanged (apart from size) for hundreds of millions of years, being found in fossil records. No species has evolved from them - it seems any mutation makes them less successful.
All these mentions of sex, mating, copulation, sperm and genitals will get lots of hits by people searching for porn on Flickr!

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Taken on: May 17, 2024
Tags: Everybody's photos tagged with Canon EOS R5 Canon EOS R5 Everybody's photos tagged with Canon EF 400mm f/4 DO IS USM Lens Mk II + x2 Extender Mk III Canon EF 400mm f/4 DO IS USM Lens Mk II + x2 Extender Mk III
Sets appears in:   • Dragonflies & Damselflies   
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Camera: Canon EOS R5, f/10.0, 1/2500 sec, 800mm, ISO 2500 (more info) (hide info)
Camera: Canon EOS R5
Lens: EF400mm f/4 DO IS II USM +2x III
Aperture: f/10.0
Exposure Time: 1/2500 sec
Focal Length: 800mm
ISO: 2500
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: No Flash
Exposure Program: Manual
Exposure Mode: Manual
Metering Mode: Spot
White Balance: Auto
Sharpness: Hard
Color Space: Uncalibrated
Software: Adobe Photoshop 25.7 (Windows)
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