Coupling Day

This year has obviously been a crazy one for damsel flies. Getting together is nigh in impossible in the rain so it apears that two months of the mating season has been lost to the weather. But today was very obviously perfect weather. Coupled damsel flies were everywhere.

I asked the Best Mate which damsel fly has to fly backwards when they mate on the wing. Right on cue a mating couple flew past us and settled on the boat. They both fly forwards. The male (the pretty iridescent blue one) is definitely on top and the female (the drab plain brown coloured one) is underneath.

I have heard that bees have swarmimg days when the queen selects the fittest drone, ants have flying days when the males leave the nest but I did not know that damsel flies have coupling days. By todays viewing apparently they do. And today was it!