She is the queen of a Blue Emperor dragonfly (Anax imperator).
Only seen at times when she is ovipositing (egg-laying).
Widespread across South Africa, its range extending from the east of the country to the south of the country, and then far into the arid west where it rapidly colonises temporary wetlands after periods of rainfall. The females are less obvious than the males, and they are usually only seen when they come to the water to oviposit, mainly diurnal but also joins mixed species dragonfly hunting swarms at dusk.
Source: Book. A Guide to the Dragonflies and Damselflies of South Africa.
ISBN 978-1-77584-184-5
And she arrived to deposit some eggs under the leaves of pond flowers.
We sat on two camping chairs in the shade of a big oak tree near the pond. It was one of those very hot days again, and of course my eyes kept on scrutinizing the surface water of the pond. To my great amazement, this emperor lady arrived, so I had a grandstand view of her.
Now this lady does not waste time, as she immediately her tail into the water to lay her eggs.
When she is done, she simply flips up to land on some other pond flowers. It is said that the females can lay hundreds or thousands of eggs.
And now on our way back home, I will show you another dragonfly.
Another female, and this one is a Cape Skimmer (Orthetrum julia capicola).
She sat on the branch of the granadilla fence in our front garden.
And then she even asked me, teasingly, if she could pose for me:))
I showed her the photos on my camera, and she was happy.
Believe it or not, the South African weather services have been hacked and now we all go about thumb-sucking about the weather patterns, but I am sure that they will soon sort it out. I can see no reason why anyone would like to do that. In any case, it does not bother us very much, as when we sweat tons, we know it is very hot, and when we get goosies on our skin then we know it is cold.
It was a battle for us to get cheap camping chairs, as they are very expensive in the shops, but thankfully we managed to get two cheap used ones at a fair price. This now makes it so much easier for my pond watching expeditions, especially as the sun cannot get me in the shade and my camera has a great zoom. So, why walk around in the blazing sun if one can sit in the shade to get the same results?
I hope you have enjoyed the pictures and the story.
Photos by Zac Smith. All-Rights-Reserved.
Camera: Canon PowershotSX70HS Bridge camera.
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