Damselflies and dragonflies can be very flighty and take off at the slightest disturbance, but if you’re lucky, you may get a good view of one. Megan Shersby takes a close look at these winged jewels of the water – see if you can spot any of these species or behaviours in the wild
EMERALD DAMSELFLY PORTRAIT
By taking a series of images at different focal lengths, photographer Oliver Wright has created a stacked image of this emerald damselfly looking directly at the camera. The most common of the damselfly species in the UK, the emerald damselfly can be identified by the position in which it rests. While dragonflies rest with their wings held straight out, and other damselflies rest with their wings held together above the body, the emerald damselfly chooses the middle option. It holds its wings open at 45 degrees when perched, leading to the alternative name of ‘common spreadwing’.
EMPEROR DRAGONFLY OVIPOSITING
Ever spotted a dragonfly or damselfly with its tail dipping in and out of the water? This is a female laying her precious eggs, either using her sharp ovipositor to lay the eggs into plant stems or rotten wood, or laying them loosely in the water. The former are known as endophytic eggs and the latter as exophytic.
DRAGONFLY LARVAL NYMPH
Odonata (the order of flying insects that includes dragonflies and damselflies) have a fascinating life cycle, spending their larval years underwater, when they are known as nymphs. They are predatory, eating small animals; larger species even catch small fish. It is tricky to differentiate species, but damselflies have three longer structures at the end of their body called caudal lamellae, so look similar to mayfly nymphs.
FOUR-SPOTTED CHASER DRAGONFLY EMERGING
To make the transition from underwater nymphs to dazzling fliers, dragonflies and damselflies must undergo an extraordinary transformation. Unlike some insects, they don’t have a pupal stage and undergo ‘incomplete metamorphosis’. In the final nymph stage, they climb on to emergent vegetation, break open their skin and climb out. If you’re lucky, you may spot them during this stage, as they need some time for their bodies to harden and their wings to expand, as seen here. Even if you miss this extraction and hardening process, look out for the left-behind skin, still attached to the vegetation, which is known as an exhuvia.
FOUR-SPOTTED CHASER DRAGONFLY
Covered in dew and waiting for the sun and the air temperature to rise, the four-spotted chaser dragonfly is not as brightly coloured as other chaser species, instead wearing
