{"id":20499,"date":"2012-09-05T21:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-09-05T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nextdoornature.org\/?p=4027"},"modified":"2019-12-22T22:30:18","modified_gmt":"2019-12-22T09:30:18","slug":"damsels-and-dragons-but-no-prince","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/damsels-and-dragons-but-no-prince\/","title":{"rendered":"Damsels and dragons\u2026 but no prince"},"content":{"rendered":"

She (Or maybe he. This is a modern fairly tale.) explored the lovely little pond from which s\/he had recently emerged after having spent most of life underwater as a nymph.<\/p>\n

Who would have guessed during that awkward adolescence, when growth spurts had him\/her (speaking of awkward\u2026 let\u2019s just stick with \u201cher\u201d from here on out for the same of simplicity, shall we?) literally jumping out of her skin a dozen times or so, that she would transform from an ugly duckling into a swan?<\/p>\n

So\u2026 today was her debut. A coming out, of sorts, and the damsel flitted here and there, enjoying the warm sun shimmering and gleaming on her iridescent wings as she dipped down to the water now and again to daintily snack on mosquito larvae.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Once upon a time there was a damsel(fly). [Imagine, if you will, a bucolic Disneyesque soundtrack of flutes and piccolos in the background.]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\"\"<\/a>
damselfly nymph by Photo Munki, CCL<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Not a care in the world. \u00a0Completely oblivious to\u2026 \u00a0[Cue the ominous bassoon music]\u00a0<\/em>\u2026the looming presence of a dragon(fly) on the other shore.<\/p>\n

Not that it mattered, really. [Can I have the flutes and piccolos back, please?]<\/em>\u00a0 Sure, the dragon(fly) was part of the Epiprocta clan, the damsel a Zygoptera, but they were both members of the Order Odonata. No family feuds that she knew of, and so closely related were they that many folks had trouble telling one from the other without assistance in the form of a handy reference table.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

They were cousins, but not kissing cousins. True, their kind were known as having an unusual approach to romance, in which the male clasps the female behind her head with a special appendage on the tip of his abdomen and she loops her abdomen forward to pick up the spermatophore from a structure on his abdomen.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
damselflies mating by Clifton Beard, CCL<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I know, I know\u2026 it sounds kind of weird and kinky but trust me, it\u2019s just hard to describe. When it\u2019s right it\u2019s a beautiful thing, especially when the couple forms a kind of heart with their entwined bodies [Everyone say \u201cawwwww\u201d]<\/em>.<\/p>\n

But damsel(flies) and dragon(flies) aren\u2019t the marrying kind. They\u2019re independent and self-sufficient to a fault\u2014a characteristic that starts in infancy. Good thing, too, because, to be perfectly honest, the adults are neglectful parents. Dad flies off with hardly a backward glance at the new mom-to-be, and she deposits her eggs in floating plants or directly into the water and then washes her (metaphorical) hands of the responsibilities of child-rearing.<\/p>\n

The nymphs (aka naiads) hatch and, being carnivorous little monsters, begin feeding on mosquito larvae, daphnia, tadpoles, small fish, and sometimes each other. That happens among adults as well, although the jury\u2019s still out on the subject of postcoital cannibalism, a not-uncommon behavior in the insect world. It\u2019s enough to give a girl pause (although, for most insect species it\u2019s the guy who needs to worry about fatal attractions).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
odonata eyes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Whatever. Who needs a prince anyway? This is the 21st<\/sup> century and females of every stripe and species are all about DIY. \u00a0Locked up in a tower? Any modern, self-respecting damsel knows you simply pull out your smartphone, Google instructions for making a rope out of sheets, and then shimmy down to freedom.<\/p>\n

Evil stepmother? Please. Dial the Child Abuse Hotline and tell that witch you\u2019ll see her in court!<\/p>\n

Face to face with a dragon? Reach for your trusty catch-pole or tranquilizer dart gun.<\/p>\n

And live happily ever after.<\/p>\n

\u00a9<\/em><\/strong>\u00a02012 Next-Door Nature\u2014no reprints without written permission from the author (I\u2019d love for you to share my work; all you have to do is ask). Thanks to these photographers for making their work available through a Creative Commons license: [starting from the top]: Tomquah (cover damselfly<\/a>); Photo munki (nymph<\/a>\u2026 not the same species); Clifton Beard (mating damselflies<\/a>); Ben McLeod (dragonfly eyes<\/a>); and Charles Lam (damselfly eyes<\/a>).<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

She (Or maybe he. This is a modern fairly tale.) explored the lovely little pond from which s\/he had recently emerged after having spent most of life underwater as a nymph. Who would have guessed during that awkward adolescence, when growth spurts had him\/her (speaking of awkward\u2026 let\u2019s just stick with \u201cher\u201d from here on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":2145567,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6984,5],"tags":[593,598],"class_list":["post-20499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blogs","category-wildlife","tag-damselfly","tag-odonata"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20499"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20499\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2145567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}