White legged Damselfly on River Severn, Worcester

The delicate and beautiful white legged dragonfly Platycnemis pennipes is in tandem and ovipositing on watermargin plants on the River Severn near Worcester UK in 2008.
The watermargin plants are absent on 99% of this 4 mile section of the River Severn, due in large part to illegal breaking washes from boats.
The video ends sadly as one female is separated from her mate during egglaying by wash from a high wash boat. The seemingly damaged female slowly clambers up the stem of the water margin plant, acorus calamus, her future uncertain, though it seems as though her last chance of ovipositing is over.
This tin bathtub is inappropriately used as a rowing coaching launch by Kings School, Boat Club Worcester . According to one canoeist, it has the hydrodnamics of a brick!
In 2009 this patch of water margin plants is much reduced from last year, with the natural pressures of summer floods in consecutive years. Speeding boats have also broken the plants, eroded the soil from around the roots and ripped the plants from the silt.
The beautiful but haunting music from the talented local musican The Worrisome Ankletrout (http://john-joe.co.uk) provides the ideal soundtrack.

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Pets & Animals

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[paedisca]

this is not enallagma cyathigerum, but Platycnemis pennipes - White-legged Damselfly

but what's in a name, they are stil beautiful!

[sabrinaworcester1]

thanks paedisca. I have now corrected it. Nice site by the way

[sabrinaworcester1]

hi jugs, this was from last year, the bandeds have been around a couple of weeks and i have got some great stuff of them mating but none emerrging. The blues are only just coming out at the minute, but i have several club tailed dragonflies emerging, hopefully good!. Just short on editing time. Reds dont seem very common round here, only got a couple last year, bet they look great on your pool. We only get dflies that can live in silt and hardly any margin plants due to the speeding boats.:(

[thenoize]

nice video :o)

[myjugsarehuge]

They are so beautiful, and a Banded Demoiselle too. We have had around 100 large reds and various blues damselflies around our pool at the moment but my zoom isn't up to taking close ups really