|
Click on the +/-
to show or hide content
|
 Dragonflies and damselflies mate as frequently as they can.
For some species, if a female enters a male's territory, she will immediately be
approached by the male and the couple will mate without any preliminary courtship.
Even in some non-territorial species, if the male sees the female he will simply
try to grab her. In some species, there is often a courtship ritual. Several
males may pursue the same female. This is commonly seen in damselflies.
Females will exhibit various signals to indicate their acceptance or rejection of
a male. One common signal is the downward curving of the female abdomen.
When she accepts the male, the mating process begins.
Before actual mating occurs, the male dragonfly must transfer sperm
from the tip of his abdomen to his secondary genitalia located under abdominal segment
2. The male will bend his abdomen forward so that the tip touches his secondary
genitalia, transferring the sperm. After the transfer of sperm is completed, mating
can take place.
Some dragonflies may mate while flying, others may perch, sometimes
high in trees. Most damselflies land to mate and are frequently observed mating
while perched.
When dragonflies mate, the male grabs the female with his legs and
attempts to get hold of the back of the female's head with his claspers. This
is usually completed without injury, but some species that grasp the female's head
so tightly that they can actually puncture the back of the head. In damselflies,
the pro-thorax is held.
The dragonflies are now said to be "in tandem", with the male in
front, and the female behind. To complete the union, the female dragonfly curls
her abdomen forward to contact the male's secondary genitalia. Their bodies are
now in the "Wheel" position. Romantics point out that this position, especially
in damselflies, forms a heart shape. This final stage of mating can be as short
as a few seconds or as long as several hours. This is the time when sperm transfer
now takes place.
The female's eggs are not fertilized immediately. She can
store the sperm until she finds a safe place for her eggs to be laid. She
may mate with other males, and the resulting dragonflies may have the genes of several
sperm donors. In some species, the male will remove existing sperm from the female
genitalia which is from an earlier mate, than replace it with his own sperm.
|