2003 Meeting of The Dragonfly Society of the Americas -
Williams, California, with post trips to the Owens Valley - Page 2
A short photo essay on Enallagma anna - The River Bluet
(photo, right, pair mating) by Roy Beckemeyer
Last updated 29 December 2003
Thanks to Kathy and Dave Biggs, Tim Manolis, and Andy Rehn, hosts
and tour guides for the meeting. See Kathy's web pages on the meeting
at: DSACALIFORNIA
Photos taken by Roy J. Beckemeyer unless otherwise noted.
Material ©2003 by Roy J. Beckemeyer. Do not use or copy without
permission.
Left: Dorsal view of Enallagma anna male. Note the long upper
appendages, which are very noticeable even with the naked eye.
Right: A male and female Enallagma anna in tandem. Photo taken
alongside an irrigation canal in Inyo Co., California, June, 2003.
Left: A pair of Enallagma anna in copula - the male had spent several
minutes trying to induce the female to mate by lifting her and waving his
abdomen to swing her abdomen forward. She finally consented to mate with
him.
Right: A close-up view of the male Enallagma anna's grip on the female's
prothorax. The upper surface of the male's superior appendages rest
against the female's mesostigmal plate.
A close-up view of the copulatory organs of Enallagma anna in
contact. The male's secondary genitalia are on the ventral side of the 2nd
abdominal segment.
Below are two mpeg video sequences. The one on the left is 2.1MB and
shows the above pair of Enallagma anna with the male unsuccessfully
trying to induce copulation. The one on right is 1.5MB and shows the pair
on the final and successful attempt that ends in mating. The files are set
to loop continuously once they download, and are each set as 320 pixel square
arrays. Download time will depend on the speed of your connection, of
course.
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