Damselflies have not changed significantly in the last 150 million years, a clear sign of a successful species. They are closely
related to the larger Dragonflies.
Damselflies are very agile, fast and can even fly backwards. With an excellent eyesight and strong jaws they are ideal killing machine. Damselflies eat other insects and even each other.
The larvae (nymphs)
live in clear fresh waters, so damselflies stay near streams and pools where they can lay eggs. The larvae are
just as voracious, they feed on water fleas and even each other!
Males are usually more colorful than females and therefore
more recognizable as a species.
In the water-rich Empelse Waard and Hedelse Bovenwaard you find damselflies everywhere, like White-legged damselflies,Blue-tailed Damselflies and Red-eyed damselflies.
I use a Canon SX70 HS camera. With its extreme focal length of 1365 mm you can get pretty good close-ups but depth of field can become an issue.
The photos are from 2022 onwards.
