Gary Woods wrote in message . ..
Janet Galpin and Oliver Patterson wrote:

I thought that they spend their nymph stage in the water and then crawl
out when it's time for the adult to emerge, so I'm not sure where the
egg-laying fits in.

After they emerge they spend a couple of weeks away from the water to
reach sexual maturity, they then come back to the water to mate and
lay their eggs.

There may well be others that lay eggs on plant stems. I know some
dragonfly larvae take a couple of seasons to mature, and can catch and eat
small minnows! They do put on a good air show!

The large ones in my pond (33 out now BTW) have spent 2 years in there
and are the size of a newt! they have voracious appetites and will
take on anything they find. I haven't got any fish in there but I have
seen them tackle other species of dragonfly nymphs, tadpoles, full
grown snails etc.
That pond's a dangerous place to live.

We had a short stocky dragonfly today with a pale blue tail. I've just
looked it up and it's Libellula depressa, which is a darter. I then saw
what I think must have been the case it emerged from half way up the
leaf of a water iris. I should have been more observant and spotted the
case before, and then I could have been aware of it hatching!

I thought that they spend their nymph stage in the water and then crawl
out when it's time for the adult to emerge, so I'm not sure where the
egg-laying fits in.

They do spend their nymph stage in the water, the libellula you mentioned
(broad-bodied chaser) lives in the mud at the bottom of the pond for a
couple of years. they then emerge, spend a couple of weeks away from the
pond maturing. Then they come back to mate, lay their eggs, and the whole
cycle begins again.

The big ones I have in my pond (33 emerged now by the way) are Anax
Imperator (Emperor dragonfly) - the nymphs usually take 2 years to mature
and are the size of a newt - pretty fearsome - with voracious appetites,
they will attack anything in the pond that moves!

Sorry about duplicate posts, my news server is playing silly beggars this
morning

In message , Pickle
writes

Sorry , I'm a newbie to usenet posting,

No probs - welcome ))

please see thread starter re
emperor dragonflies hatching from my pond

We just saw a first dragonfly near our pond - and it seemed to land
briefly, curve its rear and deposit something yellow onto a flower stalk
- is it the time for dragonflys to be laying eggs? and is this a method
they use???

Yes, and yes.
Some lay directly onto stems, others cut a hole with their blade-like
ovipositors and lay the egg inside plant matter. They usually hatch in about
3 weeks.

Thanks for that. I seem to remember that they go through a larval stage
which ends with them climbing up the side of the pond out of the water.
Can I help by ensuring there's an appropriate surface?

Do you know what kind yours were, what did it look like?

The body was red with thin black hoops, about 4cm long. It seemed quite
skinny compared with ones I've seen elsewhere. (We're in SE London NW
Kent border if that's relevant.)

--
dave @ stejonda

?why do Americans chatter during live theatre?

Thanks for that. I seem to remember that they go through a larval stage
which ends with them climbing up the side of the pond out of the water.
Can I help by ensuring there's an appropriate surface?

They like things like reeds, irises etc, anything where they can climb up
away from the water


The body was red with thin black hoops, about 4cm long. It seemed quite
skinny compared with ones I've seen elsewhere. (We're in SE London NW
Kent border if that's relevant.)

Sounds like a Large Red damselfly, dragonflies' smaller cousins.

--
dave @ stejonda

?why do Americans chatter during live theatre?
Don't know - why do they?

In message , Pickle
writes

Thanks for that. I seem to remember that they go through a larval stage
which ends with them climbing up the side of the pond out of the water.
Can I help by ensuring there's an appropriate surface?

They like things like reeds, irises etc, anything where they can climb up
away from the water

ta - I'll look into something along those lines.


The body was red with thin black hoops, about 4cm long. It seemed quite
skinny compared with ones I've seen elsewhere. (We're in SE London NW
Kent border if that's relevant.)

Sounds like a Large Red damselfly, dragonflies' smaller cousins.

Oh

Still, that's a start.


?why do Americans chatter during live theatre?
Don't know - why do they?

I don't know either but I recently experienced two occasions in London's
West End where I'd paid lotsadosh for good tickets and was treated to
repeated distraction from behind me. They just didn't seem to understand
that the silent bits weren't there for them to fill with their
inanities.

--
dave @ stejonda

!!! currently on dialup as my NTL broadband down again (