Terrestrial oviposition of Southern Hawker

[Jason Claxton]

At Lordswood nr Southampton today I saw a Southern Hawker dragonfly ovipositing on a damp mossy bank six inches above any water,I didnt know that they do this,has anybody seen this or any other species egg laying this way?Is it a common occurence?Thanks Jason.

[Dogghound]

Yes this is quite common. They often do it in plant stems and dead wood beside the pond aslong as its moist. The pre-nymphal larvae then travels into the water.

[wint]

Hello Jason - never realized you were in this forum!

I saw the same thing last wednesday at the feeder stream into Whitten Pond (nr Burley, Hants) and when I went on sunday a female Brown Hawker was ovipositing in more or less the same place - the mud about six inches above the water.

[Jason Claxton]

Many thanks for the replies about Southern Hawker egg laying near water rather than in it,it does indeed seem to be a frequent occurence.Perhaps there are advantages in that eggs are not eaten by aquatic predators or maybe conditions are more favourable.Does anybody know,or know of any research about this?Thanks Jason

[wint]

Section 2.2 in Corbet (Dragonflies - Behaviour and Ecology of Odonata) would be a good starting point.

[andy brown]

hi, picture i posted a couple of weeks ago with the same thing

Andy

[Jason Claxton]

Thanks for your replies,its good Andy that you got a photo of this.It is evident that terrestrial oviposition does occur quite commonly,it just goes to show that we make assumptions that dragonflies only lay eggs in water.And Paul i will get hold of the Corbet book.Thanks Jason

[ollyk]

Interesting thread this, because I whitnessed something similar a few weeks ago, except the female I think was pretending to lay eggs a good two meters from the pond edge on dry wooden boards



Nothing was actually laid but this behaviour was repeated numerous times, in between laying at the waters edge.



Above you can see where the female was 'depositing'. The boards above the steps.

So I assume dragons use distraction techniques or their eggs are soo tiny that they are invisible to the human eye

[ollyk]

Originally Posted by wint

Section 2.2 in Corbet (Dragonflies - Behaviour and Ecology of Odonata) would be a good starting point.

Well, going by the value of that particular title, I think we can all rely on you to tell us more

[Jason Claxton]

Well well, oviposition on dry wood steps that is something, now I am baffled !! It makes you wonder whats going on here,maybe in some cases the eggs might be washed into water.It could be that something else is happening in these sightings,perhaps as you say dummy egg laying,or the attempted removal of parasites. It looks like Im going to be doing a lot of reading.Ollyk's pictures add a new dimension,any one else want to have a shot as this one?