Desert Whitetail Dragonfly and Ovipositing Common Green Darner

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Here are two more odonata that I photographed over the week-end at the Dragonfly Festival at Bitter Lake NWR in New Mexico. Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge is one of the top locations for number of odonata species in the U.S. The top odonata is a Desert Whitetail Dragonfly.

This pair of Common Green Darners just above are perched in tandem while the female deposits her eggs. Following is a great description from the Animal Diversity Web: "Once mating is complete, common green darners remain in tandem and oviposit in pairs. The pairs fly low over the water, with the male still grasping the female, and they land in the open to oviposit. They lay eggs on floating stems and leaves, including alive and dead material, as well as on woody branches." Fyi, the male is the brighter colored dragonfly and is in the front. SeEtta

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