61:
99:
to secondary genitalia on the third segment of his abdomen, the blue-coloured male grasps the dull-coloured female by the head with the claspers at the tip of his abdomen. The female then curls her abdomen downwards and forwards under his body to pick up the sperm from the male's secondary genitalia.
60:
132:
109:
32:
27:
54:
113:
44:
39:
100:
The distinctive posture that the pair adopt when transferring sperm is often called the "heart" or "wheel".
68:
103:
82:
78:
126:
96:
17:
88:
95:
damselflies preparing to mate. Having transferred a bundle of sperm known as a
74:
25:
85:
and can reach a length of 32 to 35 mm (1.3 to 1.4 in).
81:. The species is widely distributed across the
73:, the common blue damselfly, is a species of
8:
133:Knowledge (XXG) Picture of the day July 2020
7:
87:This composite photograph, taken in
24:
59:
1:
91:, England, shows a pair of
28:Picture of the day archives
149:
114:More featured pictures...
69:Enallagma cyathigerum
102:Photograph credit:
93:E. cyathigerum
55:Picture of the day
106:
140:
104:Charles J. Sharp
101:
83:Palearctic realm
63:
49:
38:
30:
148:
147:
143:
142:
141:
139:
138:
137:
123:
122:
120:
118:
117:
116:
64:
57:
51:
50:
47:
42:
36:
26:
22:
21:
20:
12:
11:
5:
146:
144:
136:
135:
125:
124:
108:
79:Coenagrionidae
77:in the family
65:
58:
53:
52:
43:
35:
23:
15:
14:
13:
10:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
145:
134:
131:
130:
128:
121:
115:
111:
107:
105:
98:
97:spermatophore
94:
90:
84:
80:
76:
72:
71:
70:
62:
56:
46:
41:
34:
29:
19:
18:Template:POTD
119:
92:
86:
67:
66:
89:Oxfordshire
45:2020 July 5
40:2020 July 3
75:damselfly
33:2020 July
127:Category
110:Archive
16:<
48:>
37:<
129::
112:–
31::
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
