Dirty Damselflies

These are damselflies in a position that might make authors of the Kama Sutra blush.

THESE ARE Subarctic Bluets (Coenagrion interrogatum) in a position that might make authors of the Kama Sutra blush. That’s the male “on top,” basically grasping the female by the scruff of her neck (prothorax) with a pair of clamps at the tip of his abdomen. She’s curved her abdomen forward to link up with his junk below his thorax.

They go at it like this for quite some time, even fly around in this “copulatory wheel” (which looks like a sideways heart). If it all sounds lovely and romantic, well, it is not lovely and romantic. It’s ruthless and brutal. But, hey, sex is complicated. I’ll explain in a future post for paid subscribers. For now, however, enjoy these elegant damselflies. Even though they resemble the little bluets near you, they are indeed subarctic with a range spanning much of Canada and Alaska and barely reaching into northern tier U.S. states.