Stunning views of Broad Bodied Chasers

[Queen bee]

In the few days of good weather we've had recently, I've spent the majority of the day sitting outside by our pond. One of the visitors thet have been coming recently are Broad Bodied Chaser dragonflies, and I've been able to watch close up their behaviour.
Most of the time, it's a single male who patrols the pond, stopping to eat on various perches around the edge. They're definetely territorial -- at the first sight of another male, he'll rush at it and try to chase it away. If you've ever heard two dragonflies colliding, you'll know what I mean -- it's like some garden strimmers crashing into each other, or a helicopter collision. Sometimes, the opponent clears off pretty darn quick. The other day, however, there were two evenly matched males zipping all over the place. I don't think there was a moment where only one dragon was over the pond. As soon as one was chased off, it came back with a vengeance! I've also seen some very confusing fights between three at once.

The reaction to a female is equally violent. He rushes out, mates with her and patrols over her while she lays eggs. As soon as she's done, he chases her away. Sometimes, though, he chases females without mating with them: can he tell which ones he's already mated with? There have been several crazy scenes where he's been halfway through mating with a female, and another male has come along, or a bird tries to get a double meal -- she's clinging on for dear life!

As you can tell, I've had hours of entertainment!

[bobbarber]

A nice piece of observation Queen bee, in answer to your question does he know which ones he`s mated with, yes by the smile on their faces ...Bob