Pondside with a Damselfly
become quite tattered. The males are the ones bestowed the rich, distinguishing color. You may very well miss the female if you don't keep an eye out for her. Highly muted in tone, she isn't as active in the air. These damselfly live in herds and many males will inhabit a pond space, buzzing around most of the day trying to chase each other from prominent resting spots. In summer the damselfly mate and the female deposits eggs in the stems of aquatic plants. Removing plants at this time may remove the eggs as well. It is easy to see when the female is laying her eggs and if your water garden permits, you can flag the plant to prevent removing it. Once hatched the larva (nymph) swims around under water eating insects and pests. Be careful as they can bite you as well. They grow by shedding their external skeleton until they are mature enough to climb out of the water onto a plant (again the reason water side plantings are needed) and splits its external skeleton for the very last time. It beats its new wings filling them with blood and flies off to find a mate. Now that fall is here, the damselfly will disappear. If your pond was to their liking, their offspring may very well be in your pond now waiting to emerge next spring.
The copyright of the article Pondside with a Damselfly in Water Gardening is owned by Marie A. Miczak. Permission to republish Pondside with a Damselfly in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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