Some Dragonfly Observations

1 January 2008

I was walking in the forest today with family and saw a dragonfly hanging around a log. On closer inspection it was a Mountain Darner Austroaeschna atrata (not a common species) ovipositing on the underside of the log but unfortunately my approach scared her away. I was ready to go on but my mum suggested the dragonfly might come back and that maybe we should wait — to which I retorted that probably won't happen because if she was finished laying her eggs she wouldn't be back for a long time. But almost as I was finishing the sentence the insect came flying in again and I spent over 15 minutes observing her (and overheating my camera taking photos).

A little later I saw a male of the same species consuming a European Wasp Vespula germanica. I had sometimes wondered how such an encounter might go because if the wasp managed to sting the dragonfly it would probably be fatal.

Name	Date	Size
Parent Directory - January 2008	14-Nov-2011 15:58	-
Austroaeschna atrata f SassafrasCrk0~3188.jpg	01-Jan-2008 15:33	78.2 KB 480×432
Austroaeschna atrata f SassafrasCrk0~3229.jpg	01-Jan-2008 15:36	82.7 KB 640×480
Austroaeschna atrata m SassafrasCrk0~3270.jpg	01-Jan-2008 15:41	35.1 KB 432×560
Austroaeschna atrata m SassafrasCrk0~3271.jpg	01-Jan-2008 15:45	49.9 KB 576×480
Austroargiolestes calcaris f Sassafr~3041.jpg	01-Jan-2008 14:41	35.9 KB 576×432
Austroargiolestes calcaris m Sassafr~3266.jpg	01-Jan-2008 15:39	41.7 KB 560×432
Echidna SassafrasCrk080101-3017.jpg	01-Jan-2008 14:35	75.3 KB 560×432
habitat SassafrasCrk080101-3172.jpg	01-Jan-2008 15:24	67.9 KB 384×512
Slender Tree-fern SassafrasCrk080101-3111.jpg	01-Jan-2008 15:15	90.4 KB 432×576