Hi all - On several occasions I have seen a dragonfly fly close to the
water, tilt its tail part 90 degrees and quickly dip it into the pond a
number of times. Even saw this once just using a little water on a lily
pad. I'm guessing its either 1)Drinking from the wrong end 2)Decided my
pond is his potty 3)Is giving me the finger, but cant fly up side down or
4)Laying eggs or whatever they have? Got any ideas?

btw- It has sure been an unexpected treat to get to see a growing number of
varieties of colors and shapes of dragonflies. Till now I had barely
noticed those oversized flies and at other locations. I think they were
mostly blue/black or reddish tinged. I saw one recently that appeared to
have landed and and then rotated his wings perpedicular to the ground. This
may be common, but not for me.

Bill Brister - Austin, Texas

Hey Bill,
your answer is behind door
number four
4)Laying eggs

The eggs will hatch, spend the winter in the pond as larva eating up tiny
critters, fish fry and tadpoles if you have any. They catch them by ejecting
their jaw out from under their bodies and snagging their lunch.
In the spring, or late winter for you I expect, they will crawl up out of the
pond on a plant stem, split the back of their skin and the dragonfly will
emerge, spread its wings, let them dry and then fly off leaving the
extoskeleton behind.
They are the kewlest bugs. The US military studied them to figure out how they
work.
They fly in antiphase which is very impressive but I forget exactly what it
means. They form a basket with their front legs and scoop up winged insects on
the fly, eat them and carry on all with out stopping. The original fastfood.


kathy :-)
algae primer
http://hometown.aol.com/ka30p/myhomepage/garden.html

They fly in antiphase which is very impressive but I
forget exactly what it means.

Most of the stronger insect fliers have evolved means to link their
forewings and hindwings in flight so that each side functions as one
flight surface. Dragonflies and damselflies, in contrast, move the two
pairs independently, timing the stroke of the hindpair so that they
meet the oncoming air before it has been disturbed by the front pair.
Physicists would describe them as operating in antiphase.

Source: http://www.geocities.com/cyberfly271...agonflies.html

Jim
Zone 8a - Dallas, Texas
Pond, Veggie Filter, Pond Maintenance & Pond Tour Pics:
http://community.webshots.com/user/dallas75248

"Newbie Bill" wrote in message
. ..
Hi all - On several occasions I have seen a dragonfly fly close to the
water, tilt its tail part 90 degrees and quickly dip it into the pond a
number of times. Even saw this once just using a little water on a lily
pad. I'm guessing its either 1)Drinking from the wrong end 2)Decided my
pond is his potty 3)Is giving me the finger, but cant fly up side down or
4)Laying eggs or whatever they have? Got any ideas?

btw- It has sure been an unexpected treat to get to see a growing number
of
varieties of colors and shapes of dragonflies. Till now I had barely
noticed those oversized flies and at other locations. I think they were
mostly blue/black or reddish tinged. I saw one recently that appeared to
have landed and and then rotated his wings perpedicular to the ground.
This
may be common, but not for me.

Bill Brister - Austin, Texas




Bill, you are psychic. I was having my coffee out by the pond this morning
and thought about posting this very question. After reading Kathy's
response, it's clear that it is dragonfly egg dropping time in Austin.

Dragonflies are becoming my favorite part of the 'pond experience' as my
herd has grown to a few dozen of varying colors. There are some huge
scarlet ones that put on quite a show in the evening while I relax with a
soothing beverage.

"grubber" wrote:

"Newbie Bill" wrote in message
. ..
Hi all - On several occasions I have seen a dragonfly fly close to the
water, tilt its tail part 90 degrees and quickly dip it into the pond a
number of times. Even saw this once just using a little water on a lily
pad. I'm guessing its either 1)Drinking from the wrong end 2)Decided my
pond is his potty 3)Is giving me the finger, but cant fly up side down or
4)Laying eggs or whatever they have? Got any ideas?

btw- It has sure been an unexpected treat to get to see a growing number
of
varieties of colors and shapes of dragonflies. Till now I had barely
noticed those oversized flies and at other locations. I think they were
mostly blue/black or reddish tinged. I saw one recently that appeared to
have landed and and then rotated his wings perpedicular to the ground.
This
may be common, but not for me.

Bill Brister - Austin, Texas




Bill, you are psychic. I was having my coffee out by the pond this morning
and thought about posting this very question. After reading Kathy's
response, it's clear that it is dragonfly egg dropping time in Austin.

Dragonflies are becoming my favorite part of the 'pond experience' as my
herd has grown to a few dozen of varying colors. There are some huge
scarlet ones that put on quite a show in the evening while I relax with a
soothing beverage.


They are one of my favorite things about the pond also. I like that they
buzz around and mostly come to roost back at the same place - makes
photographing them easier. I spend lots of time standing in my pond, camera
focused on a rush. I'm also not embarrassed to say that I've rescued
dragonfly nymphs from my skimmer!


San Diego Joe
4,000 - 5,000 Gallons.
Goldfish, a RES named Colombo and an Oscar.



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Yes, arent they just too cool. I have a couple of those huge scarlet ones
and also a very large electric lime one, but it has most of its color on the
section behind the head rather than the tail segment. Got any idea about
what the scarlet one is. If I got a clear pic(havent) but was going to ask
the group. When I tried to look it up the closest I found was a Scarlet Bog
I believe, but it was from Australia. We're not that south. It looked just
like it though. Brite Red long and very broad appendage part, rusty on
section behind the head.
Bill

"grubber" wrote in message
...
"Newbie Bill" wrote in message
. ..
Hi all - On several occasions I have seen a dragonfly fly close to the
water, tilt its tail part 90 degrees and quickly dip it into the pond a
number of times. Even saw this once just using a little water on a lily
pad. I'm guessing its either 1)Drinking from the wrong end 2)Decided my
pond is his potty 3)Is giving me the finger, but cant fly up side down
or
4)Laying eggs or whatever they have? Got any ideas?

btw- It has sure been an unexpected treat to get to see a growing number
of
varieties of colors and shapes of dragonflies. Till now I had barely
noticed those oversized flies and at other locations. I think they were
mostly blue/black or reddish tinged. I saw one recently that appeared
to
have landed and and then rotated his wings perpedicular to the ground.
This
may be common, but not for me.

Bill Brister - Austin, Texas




Bill, you are psychic. I was having my coffee out by the pond this
morning
and thought about posting this very question. After reading Kathy's
response, it's clear that it is dragonfly egg dropping time in Austin.

Dragonflies are becoming my favorite part of the 'pond experience' as my
herd has grown to a few dozen of varying colors. There are some huge
scarlet ones that put on quite a show in the evening while I relax with a
soothing beverage.

On Fri, 9 Jul 2004 12:58:34 -0500, "Pam Gibbs" wrote:

I can tell him that dragonflies do indeed fly funny, if he
didn't already look it up for himself last night.

Hi Pam,

I'm glad you found the information useful. I have a 14 year old
"know-it-all" son and can easily relate.

Jim
Zone 8a - Dallas, Texas
Pond, Veggie Filter, Pond Maintenance & Pond Tour Pics:
http://community.webshots.com/user/dallas75248

Its dragonfly during the day. Mosquitos do the same thing at night.

This is just too much!.. Yesterday I watched my 16 year old son while he
watched the two newest dragonflies at our new pond. He was clearly
fascinated with them and before he left to go and be fascinated with his
girlfriend he asked, "Mom, what do you know about dragonflies? They fly
funny!" He has always had his head in the air, loves anything about
anything that flies, and has his hopes set on flying for the navy someday.

Thanks to you all I can tell him that dragonflies do indeed fly funny, if he
didn't already look it up for himself last night..

wrote in message
...
They fly in antiphase which is very impressive but I
forget exactly what it means.

Most of the stronger insect fliers have evolved means to link their
forewings and hindwings in flight so that each side functions as one
flight surface. Dragonflies and damselflies, in contrast, move the two
pairs independently, timing the stroke of the hindpair so that they
meet the oncoming air before it has been disturbed by the front pair.
Physicists would describe them as operating in antiphase.

Source: http://www.geocities.com/cyberfly271...agonflies.html

Jim
Zone 8a - Dallas, Texas
Pond, Veggie Filter, Pond Maintenance & Pond Tour Pics:
http://community.webshots.com/user/dallas75248

Here is some info I dug up from this site:
http://powell.colgate.edu/wda/biting_dragonflies.htm

Do Dragonflies Bite?
A). "Can you tell me if dragonflies bite?" The answer to this question has
three parts:

(i) "Do dragonflies bite?" YES, dragonflies bite, because that's how they
capture their food. They have impressive, sharply pointed mandibles that
chomp down on the smaller insects they catch.

(ii) "Do dragonflies bite people?" YES, if you catch one and hold it in your
hand and carelessly allow its mandibles to reach your skin, it will bite as
hard as it can in self defense. Very few dragonflies can even break the
skin, but some of the big ones can do so and may induce an "ouch". They're
certainly no danger to you, as the biggest dragonfly has a relatively small
bite. A word of warning though: if, for some educational reason, you plan to
let a dragonfly bite you, make sure you don't suddenly pull back, as you'll
probably pull its head off and this is not a good example to present your
audience!

(iii) "Do dragonflies bite people spontaneously?" A big resounding NO. A
dragonfly would never land on someone and bite.

B. There is a second question: "Do dragonflies sting?" The simple answer to
this is NO - they have no 'sting' as such. BUT there have been a number of
accounts of egg-laying dragonflies that, when interrupted, continued the
operation into the flesh or clothing of examining odonatists. Such actions
could well be the origins of the many "old wives tales" pertaining to
stinging dragonflies, and could also provide the answer as to why odonates
have the names of 'Horse- stingers' and 'Devil's Darning Needles'. These
names, and others like them, are part of dragonfly folk-lore in many parts
of the world.

Philip Corbet (author of Dragonflies: Behaviour and Ecology of Odonata) drew
our attention to the definition of a dragonfly in Samuel Johnson's
Dictionary (1755) as "a fierce stinging fly": possibly the result of a
painful experience?

C. Lastly: "And what about larvae?" Again basically, despite their ferocious
appearance, dragonfly larvae do not harm people. However, late-instar larvae
of larger species can use their mandibles to take a nip at an intrusive
odonatist's finger to give a noticeable poke. Cases have also been reported
of loosely held larvae 'stinging' a researcher by turning its abdomen from
side to side and inserting the sharply-pointed lateral spines into the
intruder's flesh.

The main thing to remember is that all animals do what they can to protect
themselves and that odonates are no exception. Although even minor
blood-letting is highly unlikely to be encountered, it is advisable to
handle captured dragonflies with care. If one receives a nip, it is only too
easy to react by involuntarily releasing the insect - and, of course, "the
one that got away" is always the rarest and most-desired!
Dennis Paulson & Jill Silsby

--
**So long, and thanks for all the fish!**