Amongst the poor showing of dragonflies remaining on farmer Luc’s lake this September is the Willow Emerald (Lestes viridis). Willow Emeralds are interesting critters in that they do not oviposit in water. Rather, they lay their eggs in the thinner, younger branches of trees overhanging water. Here, the egg develops and the resultant larva then drops into the water and continues to grow as other damselfly larvae. This means that the Willow Emeralds’ eggs, at least, will not form a part of the enormous fish population’s diet. Of course, the freshly emerged larvae may still suffer heavy predation.
There are still a few Emerald Damselflies flitting about the bushes surrounding our pitch and grabbing the odd passing small fly. One evening, as we were eating our evening meal, a couple of Emerald Damselflies were on the lookout for their evening meal in the last rays of the setting sun. Willow Emeralds are a wonderful irridescent green colour which the golden quality of the light was enhancing irresistibly. I thought I’d try to see how close I could get with my new(ish) macro lens. The damsel in question proved to be unusually co-operative and allowed me about as close as the lens can get. This shot is full frame, uncropped – as the camera saw it. 😉
Leave a Reply