Damselflies


This years long, hot summer has been great for finding plenty of insects to photograph. I am fortunate enough to have a large number of lakes on my doorstep, which have offered me a wonderful opportunity to shoot one of my favourite insects.....Damselflies! 



Damselflies are found mainly near shallow, freshwater habitats and are graceful fliers with slender bodies and long, filmy, net-veined wings. Damselflies are generally smaller, more delicate, and fly weakly in comparison with dragonflies . They are predatory aerial insects and colours can be stunningly vivid.



Damselflies can usually be distinguished from dragonflies by their thinner, needlelike abdomens and by the way they hold their wings when at rest. With few exceptions, damselflies hold their wings vertically and together, rather than horizontally and spread apart. Also, the four wings are almost identical in size and shape and in the vein patterns. The large eyes of damselflies differ from those of dragonflies in that they are always widely separated, rather than close together or touching each other.

Dragonfly above and below. - Note how much closer the eyes are together!


The adults catch prey in flight, mainly on small insects. They are indiscriminate feeders. In some species mating is preceded by elaborate courtship by the male. To mate, damselflies join together in the “wheel” position and commonly fly in tandem this way. Afterward, the male will usually remain attached to the female as she lays eggs. When doing so he retains his grip on the front portion of the female’s thorax, using claspers located at the tip of his abdomen.





Female damselflies normally place eggs inside plant tissue. Several species frequently lay eggs under water, the female at times remaining submerged for an hour or more. A male, usually her last mate, often waits above and may help her rise from the water after she surfaces.


All images taken with my Nikon D500, with Nikon 70-200f4 or Nikon 200-500 f5.6


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