Large red damselflies

These large red damselflies were photographed at  a large pond in Durham city. The eyes are amazing in this insect. So far, this is the only damselfly species that has bred in my small, weedy garden pond. Southern hawker dragonflies have paid visits on a few occasions, but no sign yet of any egg laying.

... damsels in distress

We had a mass emergence of damselflies in our local pond last week, which provided a sudden source of food for some enterprising spiders ...... and provided me with an education in the complexities of damselfly identification, courtesy of Klass-Douwe Dijkstra's Field Guide to the Dragonflies and Britain and Europe.

This, apparently, is a bog-standard mature male common bluetail, but this....

... with its pink thorax, is a 'C' type immature female

Almost as soon as they emerged they began courting, with mature females mating with males in the remarkable 'wheel' configuration. These, above and below, are (I think) common blues in flagrante

After mating some females had already begun to lay eggs on waterweeds, with the male still attached...

This floating reed mace stem was evidently a prime landing pad for oviposting females, with no less than five pairs jostling for space.