The female loops the end of her abdomen up to the base of the male's abdomen where the sperm is stored and transferred. The Odonata are the only insects that mate in this wheel position. The female lays the eggs once they are fertilised. They lay their eggs in plant tissue of various sorts. Competition for mates is usually fierce, and male aggression can prevent females from laying their eggs.
Females ovipositing alone are usually secretive.
In many species, the male often retains his hold on the female while she lays her eggs, Aeshna palmata female laying eggs in dense stands of emergent plants. Some damselflies crawl below the water surface to escape the attentions of males, remaining there for over an hour to lay their eggs. They can take a film of air down with them, trapped in the hairs on their body. The large stream-dwelling Cordulegaster has a spikelike ovipositor that drives eggs into the mud and sand of the streambed. Other species lacking ovipositors usually just dip the tip of the abdomen into the water and wash the eggs off, and the eggs sink to the bottom.