Mating Wheel Blue Eyed Darners
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Mating Wheel Blue Eyed Darners

Blue-eyed Darner · Santa Barbara/Goleta

Blue-eyed Darner mating wheel behavior in a heart-shaped position. The bright blue male in top position clamps onto the back of the female's head using special appendages at the tip of his abdomen. The female, patterned with yellow-green, then curves her abdomen forward to connect with the male's secondary genitalia located near his thorax. While linked like this, they are capable of flying together to find a safe resting spot in the vegetation or to evade predators. Seeing these incredible creatures in the reed's natural weave produced an amazing opportunity, and I was fortunate enough to witness and record it for you.