Page 23 - BBC Knowledge - October 2017 IN

Only have eyes

for you

EMILIA-ROMAGNA,
ITALY
Peering through a hole in a poplar
leaf, these two damselflies look
ready to invite us in for a cup of tea.
The pair, who appear to be holding
hands, were spotted close to the
river Po in northern Italy.
“Damselflies are often sexually
dimorphic,” says Prof Adam Hart,
an entomologist at the University
of Gloucestershire. “This means that
the males and females differ,
typically in size and colouration, with
males often more colourful and
smaller than females.”
Here, the larger, green damselfly
on the right is more likely to be the
female, and she’s probably been
wooed by an elaborate courtship
display. “The males will hover, flap,
bob, flicker and display their wing
spots in order to show themselves
off,” says Hart. “They’ll also engage
other males in ‘flights of attrition’,
PHOTO:R ALDROVANDI/SOLENT Once successful, the male will clasp PHOTO: CATERS NEWS
where the two rivals try to exhaust
each other with aerobatics.”
the female behind her head, and the
female will curve her abdomen
around to pick up his sperm. The
shape of the two mating damselflies
often resembles a heart. Incredible!