A female Banded Demoiselle lies on her side on the surface of a river, partly submerged, probing beneath the water for suitable vegetation into which to lay her eggs. She is a large, metallic green damselfly with green wings. Her male partner, who is dark metallic blue with a broad blue band across his wings, is standing on top of her partly-submerged body to ensure that no other male can seize and mate with her before she has laid the eggs he fertilized.

Supervision:
www.blipfoto.com/entry/339683...

#insects #invertebrates #odonata #damselfly #BandedDemoiselle #CalopteryxSplendens #oviposition #CleevePriorMill #RiverAvon #UKWildlife #NaturePhotography #NatureWriting #MacroPhotography #StingsNWings #SmallWonders

Two Tiger Hoverflies copulating on a bramble leaf. They are yellow and black, with longitudinal stripes on the thorax and transverse patterns on the abdomen. They have long, cream coloured faces, with a Roman profile and a central dark stripe, and very large black eyes. The male is noticeably smaller than the female, who is about 1.7cm long.

Steamy:
www.blipfoto.com/entry/336330...

#insects #invertebrates #hoverfly #TigerHoverfly #SunFly #footballer #HelophilusPendulus #CleevePriorMill #UKWildlife #NaturePhotography #NatureWriting #MacroPhotography #StingsNWings #SmallWonders