As the summer months speed by, I have been spending some time around our pond, cutting down weeds and observing the insects that fly in and around the habitat. Around here the prettiest insects we see is the blue damselfly; we spot them near streams and ponds.
It has an oblong head with bulging eyes and short antennae, and four large membranous wings that are parallel to its body instead of perpendicular like the dragonfly. The mating pairs are seen flying and clinging in tandem.
From the picture you can see that the male bends his abdomen forward and clasps the female behind the head. The female loops her abdomen forward and picks up the sperm from the male.
The eggs are laid in emerging plants, floating vegetation or directly in the water. In addition to the damselfly, we have garter snakes swimming in the pond as well. The kind we have around us is the Two-Striped Garter Snake.
They are olive green with a yellow stripe down each side.The belly is dull yellow and may fade into orange or reddish coloration. We recently had four snakes swimming in the pond preying upon our goldfish, tadpoles, frogs, toads and insect larvae.
Hawks, coyotes and raccoons in turn hunt the Two-Striped Garter Snake, so they don’t have an easy life in the wild. The garter snake bears live young and begins breeding in April and May through the summer.
The Two-Striped Garter Snake is currently protected as a California Special Concern Species and is also a Federal Special Concern Species.
While the damselfly has been around for a very long time, snakes are currently being threatened with extinction, so let them slither on by as they are not poisonous and are great fun to watch.
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