Damselfly battle?

[Diane Miller]

I'm new to dragonflies and damselflies, and was very surprised to see this. I'll post a sequence of three in the Story Sequences forum.

Canon 7D2, 100-400 II with 1.4X III, handheld at 560mm. ISO 1600, f/11, 1/1000 sec. Very basic LR adjustments and a very small amount of smart Sharpen on the resized JPEG.

[John Robinson]

Diane
These damsels are in what is known as "tandem"- the mating position. They normally fly around,rest or lay eggs like this but your pair seem to have got a little excited ! Interesting and well excecuted shot anyway.
They look like members of our Ishnura group
John

[Diane Miller]

I assumed they were both males -- the few I have seen "coupled" (or whatever the term) and ovipositing, the F has been more brownish.

Had to look up Ishnura group, then had a grand laugh at myself. Thought it referred to something kinky that YOU were involved in. :e3

[John Robinson]

Diane
Oh dear !!
Not at my age !
If theywere fighting it would be more face to face. Did you find anything when you looked it up ?

John

[Diane Miller]

I didn't have time for extensive searching, but it does appear from some small pictures that the F is also blue -- maybe the tan-brown ones I saw ovipositing about a week ago had just emerged? They're so small I hadn't paid much attention to them in past years with my longer lenses, as the not-very-close close focus distance didn't render enough magnification. The new 100-400 on a crop body is another story, though! With a 1.4X on, it's almost a macro lens.

This encounter seems odd, though. I lost them in the lens and when I looked up I didn't see the one that had been pushed underwater. But then it might have just flown off. Maybe someone can provide more information. Maybe he was just overzealous. I wouldn't be surprised if steroids get into our water...

[Gabriela Plesea]

Such an interesting capture Diane, and after viewing your Sequence I am following you in this forum as well, afraid not to miss anything:) I know there's no way to find out the true outcome, but something inside me wishes the female survived the drowning attempt!

Wishing you a wonderful week ahead, thanks again for sharing:cheers:

Kind regards,

[John Robinson]

Diane
I,ve spent a fair bit of time searching through US damsels and you might find it interesting to look up "Bluets " One of the commonest group of damsels in the US.
John

[Diane Miller]

Will do -- thanks, John. I've heard them called that... As a (very) retired biochemist, I don't know much about anything larger than a very large molecule.

A friend who is a dragonfly enthusiast ran the sequence by an odonata e-group and got a reply that it is a female on the left and it appears she is latched onto some submerged vegetation, trying to oviposit on it. So I assume all ended happily. I was watching a pair the other day when a fish jumped up and snapped them both up. Some well-fed birds out there, too.

[David Cowling]

This is a well captured image Diane. From my frequent observations of Damselflies it is also my opinion that it is part of the mating ritual, it may be that the act wasn't completed. I have never seen this actually happen before so well done for capturing the moment. I am very interested in the camera/lens combination you have used. I am also thinking that this combination will be good for butterfly and dragonfly capture so it is really useful to see such a great example of what they can do in skilled hands. TFS.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Hi Diane, this is a well focused and beautifully exposed image. The position is commonly seen, the male keeps hold of the female to ensure other males don't get hold of her. Occasionally you will see a couple such as this with a third trying damselfly to get in on the act.