Monday, June 29, 2009

Dragonfly Oviposition


I watched and photographed a pair of dragonflies mating (see inset) at the edge of a lake in Pocahontas State Park in Virginia. What surprised me, was that immediately after mating the female began dipping her abdomen in to the water's surface. This was done with an almost violent motion, each time rippling the water with the force of the small stone tossed by child. At that time, as a witness of this process, I could not imagine that this agitated action was in anyway related to reproduction. It was only through later research that I learned that this dragonfly lays each egg in this manner letting them drop to the lake floor.

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