Seeing Mating Dragonflies Assures True Love, Now and in the Future According to Old Wisdom

This is How Courtin' is Done in The South

Dragonflies have survived here for millions of years and they are the stuff of romance in their enthralling lore and captivating superstitions to many. Many perceive and adopt them as their "spirit animal" for this very reason. Their mating ritual however is anything but romantic, definitely not enjoyable for the female, and I wondered how the species has survived for so long.  Read on. 

It was mid September in the south so I was on a hike and a mission to see what the last blast of summer would offer me.  At first I could only see a hint of what I thought may be a dragonfly. Dragonflies frequently mate mid air and the scientific term for their ritual is, "tandem linkage," for obvious reasons. What are the chances they would be in the precise time and destined place in their mating ritual that I could not only see them,but have enough time to complete this shot. 

I think painting this would be very enjoyable, both in acrylics and watercolors, but capturing these dragonflies in my lens in the middle of mating, camouflaged yet surrounded by natural beauty was exhilarating, and why I love the challenges of nature photography the best, to be honest. 

This is one of those times when you take a chance, quickly concentrate on composition and settings to get the shot right before whatever it is flies away, and then you take the time to ponder and investigate afterward. When I zoomed in and uploaded, I was happily surprised to see not only 2 dragons', but that they were mating and this rarely seen behavior. Soon she will curve her abdomen and they will ultimately form a complete circle with their bodies. Then she will dip below the water, cut into this stem and deposit her eggs. The circular shape of their bodies triggers romantic visions so it's translated to mean that the person seeing them has found true love and/or will in the future. 

Whether that's true or not, it's a bit rough on the female as the male will use pincers aka claspers to grab her, keep her still, then inserts his penis into the back of her neck as he's doing here to actually deposit his sperm. Unlike many others who diversify their species and produce young from different males, male dragons are extremely possessive. Females will mate several times, presumably to ensure their species survival but this bunch has a hitch. Males will clean out all the sperm deposited by those before him, which he could actually be doing here, then deposit his assuring that she will only bear his young. 

This appears to be a Blue Dasher couple, with the male clearly being the most colorful.  It's also an excellent shot to see the vast difference in coloration between the males and females, as it's clear which is the male from his obvious position above her.

This is actually a much larger photo but to focus on the dragons, I chose to zoom and clip it to this size. As it began to sprinkle, I crossed fingers they waited long enough for me to get the natural texture Mother Natures would add to the water. Including the bubbles and the ripples in the water adds interest and texture while the flowers spaced strategically in the foreground add color and interest and drive home the aesthetic beauty combined with the philosophical. 

Composition is my main interest, but this one had everything to make a good opportunity into a great shot. The only thing I would do different, would be to use my 300mm lens though in many cases my 200 produces a sharper shot even though they are both Nikkor lenses. Including the splashes of wild flowers and the beauty surrounding this couple was an important goal and a beautiful picture to hang to welcome me on even the coldest and dreariest mornings.