FEMALE COMMON BLUETAIL DAMSELFLY SKIN

A few dimorphic species show female-limited polymorphism, the females being in two forms, one form distinct and the other with the patterning as in males. For example, in Coenagrion, the Eurasian bluets, the males are bright blue with black markings, while the females are usually predominantly green or brown with black. Many species are sexually dimorphic the males are often brightly-colored and distinctive, while the females are plainer, cryptically colored, and harder to identify to species.

The top of the head bears three simple eyes (ocelli), which may measure light intensity, and a tiny pair of antennae that serve no olfactory function but may measure air speed. Above the eyes is the frons or forehead, below this the clypeus, and on the upper lip the labrum, an extensible organ used in the capture of prey. The compound eyes are large but are more widely separated and relatively smaller than those of a dragonfly. The general body plan of a damselfly is similar to that of a dragonfly. The 18 extant traditional families are provisionally rearranged as follows (the 3 paraphyletic families disappearing, and many details not resolved). The discovered clades did not agree well with traditional characteristics used to classify living and fossil Zygoptera such as wing venation, so fossil taxa will need to be revisited. The result so far is 27 damselfly families, with 7 more likely to be created. The Protoneuridae in particular is shown to be composed of six clades from five families. Molecular analysis in 2013 confirms that most of the traditional families are monophyletic, but shows that the Amphipterygidae, Megapodagrionidae and Protoneuridae are paraphyletic and will need to be reorganized. Well-preserved Eocene damselfly larvae and exuviae are known from fossils preserved in amber in the Baltic region. Fossils of damselfly-like Protozygoptera date back further to 311вЂ“30 Mya. The earliest larval odonate fossils are from the Mesozoic. All the fossils of that age are of adults, similar in structure to modern damselflies, so it is not known whether their larvae were aquatic at that time. The Zygoptera are an ancient group, with fossils known from the lower Permian, at least 250 million years ago. Photo taken in Swifts Creek, Victoria, November 2007.

Damselflies sometimes provide the subject for personal jewelers such as brooches. The pair often remain together with the male still clasping the female while she lays eggs within the tissue of plants in or near water using a robust ovipositor.ДЇishing flies that mimic damselfly nymphs are used in wet-fly fishing. A mating pair form a shape known as a вЂњheartвЂќ or вЂњwheelвЂќ, the male clasping the female at the back of the head, the female curling her abdomen down to pick up sperm from secondary genitalia at the base of the maleвЂ™s abdomen. Like dragonflies, they reproduce using indirect insemination and delayed fertilization. Many species are sexually dimorphic, the males often being more brightly colored than the females. Some species of damselfly have elaborate courtship behaviors. Their presence on a body of water indicates that it is relatively unpolluted, but their dependence on freshwater makes them vulnerable to damage to their wetland habitats.

FEMALE COMMON BLUETAIL DAMSELFLY SKIN

The skin splits down the back, they emerge and inflate their wings and abdomen to gain their adult form. The nymphs molt repeatedly, at the last molt climbing out of the water to undergo metamorphosis. The nymphs are aquatic, with different species living in a variety of freshwater habitats including acid bogs, ponds, lakes and rivers. An ancient group, damselflies have existed since at least the Lower Permian, and are found on every continent except Antarctica.ДЄll damselflies are predatory both nymphs and adults eat other insects. They are similar to dragonflies, which constitute the other odonatan suborder, Anisoptera, but are smaller, have slimmer bodies, and most species fold the wings along the body when at rest. Damselflies are insects of the suborder Zygoptera in the order Odonata.

Female common bluetail damselfly