On 2013-07-18 21:28:34 +0100, kay said:

Sacha;987827 Wrote:


Thanks, Kay, we've certainly seen a few pairs looking for somewhere to
lay eggs, flitting around the ponds and causing a flurry of delighted
shrieks from children who spot them. They're such pretty little
flashes of irridescence.
-

A bit earlier in the year you can see them emerging - the larvae crawl
out of the water, then slit their case and the adult emerges and clings
to the vegetation for a few ours while they pump up their wings and get
ready to fly - a vulnerable time for them. And if you look carefully on
stems and leaves of emergent plants you may find lots of discarded
exo-skeletons - looking just like the damselfly larvae in the pond, but
empty!

One year I was lucky enough to find 3 cases of the much bigger dragon
fly larvae on the pond just outside my study window.

I'm amazed any survive in the old pond here because it's teeming with
fish. But clearly they do. I'll look out for that. When's a good
time? May/June?
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk