Dragonflies in my pond 9th June 2012

Dragonflies in my pond 

9th June 2012

Female,  The Broad-bodied Chaser, (Libellula depressa)

Female,  The Broad-bodied Chaser, (Libellula depressa)

Female with dark wing bases and yellow spots on the abdomen

Male,  The Broad-bodied Chaser, (Libellula depressa)

 Male with flat, broad abdomen with blue pruinosity

Male,  The Broad-bodied Chaser, (Libellula depressa)

The Broad-bodied Chaser is a dragonfly which occur in both bare 
and sunny locations, and is often the first dragonfly to colonise 
newly created ponds and well vegetated ponds. They feeds on 
many types of small insects which they take when being in the air
and then sits down on the favourite place in the sun and eat. 
Sometimes when you take photos of them you can see the legs 
or the wings from the insect they have caught in the air and 
then eating.  

Male,  The Broad-bodied Chaser, (Libellula depressa)

You can see them from April to September however are mostly seen

in May and June, their flight is very fast as they dart and dive above 

the water. They are very territorial and when another male arrived 

the two males fought and this male was the winner.

Mating takes place in the air

This female entered this males territory and the male flew up and grabbed

her. The maiting took place in the air and the pair are in tandem for only 

a brief period. You can hear a "crispy" sound. Then the pair separate 

and the female finds a good place for laying the eggs,  usually a spot

 with open water and submerged vegetation.

 Female laying eggs ,  The Broad-bodied Chaser, (Libellula depressa)

I have put together some photos of the female laying eggs above to 
visualise how she does. She is hovering above her chosen spot
in the water, and then when going down dipping the tip of her 
tail and abdomen in the water, you can see that she chose a
place with old vegetation in the pond. The eggs hatch in 4 - 5 
weeks and her larvae stays 1 -2 years to develope in the pond.
The larvae live in the slit and detritus at the bottom of the pond, 
they stay buried in the mud with just their head and eyes showing
in hunt for their prey. After they emerge they move away from the 
water and it takes a period of 10 to 14 days before they are fully
matured.

Female laying eggs,  The Broad-bodied Chaser, (Libellula depressa)

Here I have taken the photos of the female after her taking a brake 
and then mating with the male again to finally go down on a new 
spot on the greener vegetation in the pond. To me it seems like 
the female choses to lay her eggs at many different good spots.
This probably to hopefully secure some of her eggs not 
to be found and eaten.  

Female laying eggs,  The Broad-bodied Chaser, (Libellula depressa)

Here you can see her dipping her tail down into the water and lay 
the eggs on the green water plant.

Male,  The Broad-bodied Chaser, (Libellula depressa)

During the time the male is keeping his eyes on his territory, the other 
male had been scared away and this male was the winner and stayed 
in the area sorruinding my pond the entire day.