At the edge of a tiny puddle of a lake, the dragonflies and bluets were dancing. This pair of bluets flew over to where I was looking for frogs (Plop! Plop!) and perched right in front of me.
The blue male was doing the steering; he already had the female firmly held by the back of her neck with the graspers at the end of his abdomen. She came along like a trailer on a hitch.
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| Landing. She's still trying to fly. |
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| She rests, hanging loose. |
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| He gets himself well anchored ... |
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| ... and pulls her back to his level. |
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| She curls her abdomen forward. |
He has already pre-loaded the sperm bank on the bottom of his thorax, from the genital organ at the tip of his abdomen. Now she has to get her own genital opening into position.
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| Almost there. |
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| Contact! And they make a two-tone heart together. |
I shifted position, getting a firmer foothold, and the winged heart flew away. She will lay her eggs now in a plant underwater. He will hold on, staying dry himself, keeping her safe, until she is done.
(And another heart for
Clytie.)
excellent post in every way!
ReplyDeleteI love your photo stories
That is amazing! Very cool!
ReplyDeleteCheers from Cottage Country Ontario
Wow! What a progression of photos. Tall about being in the right place at the right time camera at the ready.
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ReplyDeleteHello Susannah,
ReplyDeleteWow! Wow! Wow! All I can say is these photos are excellent! I was holding my breath while scrolling down until the bottom. It's like I was there too watching the scene unfolding. It must have taken a lot of patience and concentration while snapping these photos.
My GHT post is at: http://lostforwords101.blogspot.com/2013/08/friendly-hearts.html
I know this is a late visit, but better late than never ;-)
Thanks, all! I was so lucky to have heard a frog and gone to check just then!
ReplyDeleteabsolutely amazing... you are so patient watching their ballet... and what a perfect heart they formed!
ReplyDeleteGreat shots! It's so cool that we can go outside looking for one thing and instead find something completely different, yet still amazing. Thanks for sharing this tiny encounter.
ReplyDeleteGreat pics! However, maybe rethink taking anything home from a park. The empty shells still make great homes/hiding spots for other animals and the calcium carbonate needs to dissolve so that other shelled animals can build their shells. It's also illegal to remove anything from a park.
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