Dragonfly News

A Pair of Common Green Darners Ovipositing (Laying Eggs) in Tandem, 4/6/2021

Common Green Darners Now Reproducing

Tuesday April 6 was the first day this year I observed female common green darners at the wetland, the males having arrived on March 22. The photo above shows a male (green and blue) holding onto a female as she lays eggs inside submerged plant stems. This is called the tandem position, like a tandem bicycle, and takes place before mating and in some species, as above, after mating while the male accompanies the female as she lays her eggs. This is one form of mate guarding behavior practiced by many dragonfly species. By keeping ahold of the female while she is laying eggs, the male assures that another male will not mate with her and in so doing displace his sperm.  As you can see in the photo below, he will continue to hold onto her as they fly to another location to deposit eggs. Mating is very competitive for many dragonfly species and tandem pairs like this are often harassed by other male dragonflies looking for an opportunity.  Other species of dragonflies practice other forms of mate guarding, which we are likely to see examples of in the weeks to come.


Taking Off in Search of Another Spot -- yes, they fly in tandem. Legs are still extended because they've just taken off. They will tuck them under for streamlined flight.

This was not the only pair of common green darners ovipositing (laying eggs) on that day or since. These are still the migrant population of common green darners because of their early arrival, and with the likelihood that the wetland will be dry by the end of the summer, the opportunity for them to lay eggs now is a great advantage, increasing the possibility that their young will mature and be able to leave the pond as adults before the water is gone.

Another Migrant Arrives

So far the only other dragonfly species to appear at the pond is another migrant coming from the south, the Carolina saddlebags (Tramea carolina), shown below. I saw this lone male patrolling the pond on Friday April 9th and have not seen him or other Carolina saddlebags since. Either he has continued northward on his journey or something else has befallen him... Based on past years of observation though, there are likely to be additional Carolina saddlebags showing up in the days ahead.

Carolina Saddlebags Patrolling the Pond, 4/9/2021

Local Population

Finally in the dragonfly news of the week, after taking photos of the rapidly developing toad tadpoles yesterday (4/12), I noticed that my photos included a dragonfly naiad. This almost certainly has to be an immature meadowhawk dragonfly, but more about them later.

The squat little insect on the lower right edge of the leaf with the four tadpoles resting on it is a dragonfly naiad -- an immature dragonfly. It is almost certainly a meadowhawk species. More on these later. Photo taken 4/12/2021



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