Common Blue Damselflies
Posted on in Recent Sightings by Hawk Mountain
A pair of Common Blue Damselflies (Enallagma cyathigerum) were observed mating beside the pond in the Native Habitat Garden. The “mating wheel” is formed by the electric blue male clasping the neck of his female partner while she curls her abdomen so their gonads can touch. Intimate. In this state they will fly together to a nearby aquatic plant where they lay their eggs just below the water’s surface. Larvae remain in and around the freshwater body until they molt into their winged adult forms in May-August.
Photo by Bill Moses.