David Element
Wildlife Photography and Digital
Video Images
_________________________________________Dragonflies
and Damselflies 58 – Orange White-legged Damselflies
ORANGE
WHITE-LEGGED DAMSELFLY OR ORANGE FEATHERLEG Platycnemis acutipennis
ORANGE
WHITE-LEGGED DAMSELFLY OR ORANGE FEATHERLEG Platycnemis acutipennis
ORANGE
WHITE-LEGGED DAMSELFLY OR ORANGE FEATHERLEG Platycnemis acutipennis
ORANGE
WHITE-LEGGED DAMSELFLY OR ORANGE FEATHERLEG Platycnemis acutipennis
ORANGE WHITE-LEGGED DAMSELFLY OR ORANGE FEATHERLEG Platycnemis acutipennis
ORANGE
WHITE-LEGGED
DAMSELFLY OR ORANGE FEATHERLEG Platycnemis acutipennis
ORANGE
WHITE-LEGGED DAMSELFLY OR ORANGE FEATHERLEG Platycnemis acutipennis
BLACK-TAILED
SKIMMER DRAGONFLY Orthetrum cancellatum (f); ORANGE WHITE-LEGGED DAMSELFLIES OR
ORANGE FEATHERLEGS Platycnemis acutipennis (m, f)
BLACK-TAILED
SKIMMER DRAGONFLY Orthetrum cancellatum (f); ORANGE WHITE-LEGGED DAMSELFLIES OR
ORANGE FEATHERLEGS Platycnemis acutipennis (m, f)
BLACK-TAILED
SKIMMER DRAGONFLY Orthetrum cancellatum
(f); ORANGE WHITE-LEGGED DAMSELFLIES OR ORANGE FEATHERLEGS Platycnemis
acutipennis (m, f)
·
The
above photographs of Orange White-legged Damselflies Platicnemis
acutipennis were taken at a site in the Vendée, France, where a small and discrete colony of
these insects was found adjacent to a lake. No males appeared to have any dark
markings on the dorsal surface of their abdomens. Therefore, they were located,
atypically, close to still water rather than the running water generally
associated with these damselflies. A more succinct alternative vernacular name,
Orange Featherleg, has recently been introduced for this brightly
coloured damselfly. There may be some difficulty in separating teneral
(immature) Platycnemis species in areas
where their ranges overlap, but a pair of spines projecting from the rear of
the pronotum of the females is a unique feature, and the combination of an
orange body and blue eyes should clinch the identification of mature examples.
The final three photographs illustrate a pair of Orange White-legged
Damselflies that had been captured in-tandem by an over-mature female Black-tailed
Skimmer Dragonfly Orthetrum cancellatum. The female damselfly seemed to be
completely oblivious to the fate of her mate during his decapitation and
consumption! It is not known if she was able to separate herself before also
becoming a victim, but having presumably been fertilised prior to capture,
there is a good chance that she would still have been able to oviposit.
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