Parental Cooperation
Saw lots of dragonflies on Flickr without understanding how they interact. This pair of Common Green Darners, Anax junius, may help. After mating with that heart-shaped yoga pose we often see (eg, 1st comment), they fly in tandem while he (blue) continues to clasp her (green) by the neck. Somehow finding a suitable spot, she deposits eggs on the underwater stem of an aquatic plant, here a bed of invasive Water Hyacinth, Eichhornia crassipes, in White Lake, Cullinan Park, Sugar Land, TX. Surface tension in water is a big obstacle for these little fliers, so his involvement offers a clear evolutionary advantage. How they communicate decisions during the whole process still eludes me entirely.
Happy Sliders Sunday! Single exposure, optimized in post.
12-12-2021; 12:12 CST; Velvia +
243 . 27 . 6
Parental Cooperation
Saw lots of dragonflies on Flickr without understanding how they interact. This pair of Common Green Darners, Anax junius, may help. After mating with that heart-shaped yoga pose we often see (eg, 1st comment), they fly in tandem while he (blue) continues to clasp her (green) by the neck. Somehow finding a suitable spot, she deposits eggs on the underwater stem of an aquatic plant, here a bed of invasive Water Hyacinth, Eichhornia crassipes, in White Lake, Cullinan Park, Sugar Land, TX. Surface tension in water is a big obstacle for these little fliers, so his involvement offers a clear evolutionary advantage. How they communicate decisions during the whole process still eludes me entirely.
Happy Sliders Sunday! Single exposure, optimized in post.
12-12-2021; 12:12 CST; Velvia +
243 . 27 . 6