Damsels and Dragons

Sitting by water, listening and watching for everything that lives in, on or around it can be entrancing and uplifting. Among the many fascinating things you may see in summertime around our rivers, ponds and lakes are damselflies and dragonflies. In the P-O we’re lucky to have around 60 species of these beautiful flying jewels. 

Damselfly
Large red damselfly

Damselflies, like the Large Red (Petite nymphe au corps de feu), can be thinner than a pencil. At rest, they hold their wings closed along the body. 

Scarlet Darter
Scarlet Darter

Dragons, however, like the dazzling Scarlet Darter (Crocothémis écarlate) are much bigger and always keep their wings spread to the side.

But all of them spend most of their lives – two or three years! – as nymphs, underwater. 

Unlike butterflies, there is no pupation stage, and emergence from the nymph exoskeleton is a slow and risky process.  Below you can see a damsel – still expanding! – stands beside her empty nymph case. She may be a Common Bluet (Agrion porte-coupe) but all fresh adults are pale and won’t get their full adult colours and markings until some time after their maiden flight.

In contrast to nymphs, adults only live for 6-8 weeks, so it’s chop-chop to reproduce! 

damsel

 Ever wondered exactly what’s going on when dragonflies get hitched? 

damsel
Blue tailed damsels

The male, having transferred sperm from near the tip of his abdomen to “accessory genitalia” close to his thorax, grabs a passing female and holds onto the back of her head with two prong-like appendages at the end of his abdomen.

She curls her body underneath her and locks onto his accessory genitalia. Thus her eggs are fertilized. Blue-tailed damsels (Agrion élegant) stay in this “wheel” position for hours. 

damsel
Lesser emperor dragons

After fertilization, some, like these Lesser emperor dragons (Anax napolitain), fly around with the female still attached by her head to the male. It’s for protection during egg laying. Assistance too for other females who completely submerge to lay eggs and rely on the males – hovering above – to pull them back out of the water! 

damsel
Southern darter

Dragons have voracious appetites and their huge compound eyes, as demonstrated by the Southern darter (Sympétrum méridional), can spot insect prey up to 12 metres away in any direction.

Male southern hawker © Ebertakis

Our biggest dragons are the hawkers (wingspan about 11cm). Male Southern Hawkers (Aeschne bleu) are flashy, with green, blue and black markings. They’re also inquisitive and love to hover, sometimes right in front of you, eye to eye. Trying to decide if you’re too big a mouthful? 

Did you know?

The largest insect fossil ever found is of a dragonfly that lived about 275 million years ago. It had a wingspan of 75cm and body the size of a crow!

damsel
Large pincertail/Green-eyed hooktail

The male appendage of this well-named Large Pincertail/Green-eyed Hooktail (Gomphe à crochets) and his waspish colouring might look intimidating but all damsels and dragons are harmless to humans. As long as our rivers keep running, you can enjoy them in complete peace.

Lesley McLaren is an amateur naturalist.

For more blogs and photos, or if you’d like to contact her, visit www.mediterraneanpyrenees.com

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