Return to Menu Ecology Mating Dragonflies are unique in the insect world in that the male possess a set of secondary sexual organs on the 2nd abdominal segments as well as his primary sexual apparatus on the 9th segment at the end of his abdomen. Before mating can occur the male Dragonfly must charge his secondary copulatory apparatus with sperm from his primary copulatory apparatus. Mating commences with the male grasping the female with his abdominal claspers. The pair then assume the wheel position with the tip of the females abdomen and thus her sexual apparatus engaging the males secondary copulatory apparatus. The male first uses his penis to remove any sperm left by a previous male before inseminating her himself.
Copulation can take from several minutes to several hours depending on species.
The male stays in tandem with the female in many species while she lays her eggs. In those species which lay endophytically some lay below the water line, and in some cases both the male and the female may become fully submerged. In other species the male stays close to the female guarding her while she lays, while in those strongly territorial species the male may be satisfied by continuing to expel all other males from his territory allowing the female to lay within the territory at her leisure. Some temperate Dragonflies overwinter in the egg stage and thus the eggs do not hatch for several months, however with tropical species the eggs can hatch in as little as 5 days. Return to Menu Larvae or Nymphs Larvae are aquatic, normally in rivers, streams, ponds and lakes but some species such as Podopteryx selysi make use of plant trapped water, such as water filled tree boles.