Wednesday 1 February 2017

More Damselfly Dilemmas

With a few hours available last weekend, I made another trip to Westbere Lakes to do a bit of dipping to see what could be found. With the water temperature somewhat warmer than my last visit a week ago, I was hoping that the nymphs would have moved out of the depths and be around in better numbers. I spent a couple of hours trying in various dykes and ditches and managed to collect a dozen nymphs, mostly Variable and Azure Damselfly nymphs I suspect. After collecting them, I usually put them into a small plastic pot where I can study their features with my Optricron 10x hand lens. It was clear that the nymphs I had collected had 7 antennae and had dark spotting behind the eyes which immediately put them into the Variable / Azure bracket but with the caudal lamellae ranging from pointed to quite round and a mixture of both, it was again hard to be specific on the species. I returned most back to the water but took a few home where I photographed a few individuals in my indoor tank which show the features quite well I have mentioned. The caudal lamellae with this individual show a slightly pointed tip which would lead me to think this is probably an Azure Damselfly nymph but this feature alone, is not totally reliable. I shall continue during the next month or so seeing what I can find and photograph and hopefully make a visit to a friends pond to collect a few fully grown Large Red Damselfly nymphs which I shall monitor through to their emergence.With February here already, it won't be that long until the season is upon us. 






Azure / Variable Damselfly Nymph 

8 comments:

  1. Pure brilliance Marc, I have never seen one.

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    1. Many thanks Bob. Nice to be able to photograph these in the comfort of a warm house.

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  2. Fascinating stuff Marc, bet you can't wait until the season gets underway.

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    1. Many thanks Pete. Yes, looking forward to those warm sunny days with the camera.

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  3. I remember reading somewhere a few years back that "the dragonfly season never ends". I often gaze into ponds in the winter, sometimes they're thick of ice, and wonder how busy it is in there given the inhospitable conditions. Your blog proves that there is indeed no end to the dragon season. It goes without saying that the images are superb but bringing insight into these fabulous creatures lives when we do not normally see them is brilliant. In many ways they are as stunning as nymphs as they are as adults.

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    1. Many thanks Johnny for your kind words and I echo your comments. I am very much just as fascinated by the nymph stage as the adult stage. It's probably like the M25 down there, we just don't often see it.

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  4. More and more interesting facts uncovered, supported with extraordinary photography.
    Great to see,many thanks Marc.
    John.

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    1. Many thanks John. Always fascinating watching and studying them at close range.

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