Eggs on a dragonfly

What would lay its eggs on a dragonfly?!

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Great shot

Gaunemo wrote in post #3948911
Great shot

Thanks! Curious as to what laid those eggs...

Maybe it was a female dragonfly?

Hiya DT,

Excellent shot/ find, I had a quick Google & came up with this snippet of info :-

" Dragonflies in both the nymph and adult stages can be hosts to several species of parasites, including trematodes, parasitic wasps and biting gnats in the family Ceratopogonidae. The most common dragonfly parasites are larval water mites. The small, red or green mite larvae attach themselves to the dragonfly nymph, and then to the adult dragonfly when it emerges. They feed on the dragonfly’s blood for 2 or 3 weeks, and eventually leave it to return to the water where they develop into adult mites. In most cases, the parasites do not appear to significantly harm to their host. However, very high numbers of parasites can cause deformation or lowered egg production in some individuals. "

Found in this link if I got it right
http://animaldiversity​.ummz.umich.edu …formation/Aniso​ptera.html

Maybe its those Larval Water Mites eh ??

Cheers for now
Mark

Gaunemo wrote in post #3949466
Maybe it was a female dragonfly?

Nope, they lay their eggs in the water.

bandit 1 wrote in post #3949710
Hiya DT,

Excellent shot/ find, I had a quick Google & came up with this snippet of info :-

" Dragonflies in both the nymph and adult stages can be hosts to several species of parasites, including trematodes, parasitic wasps and biting gnats in the family Ceratopogonidae. The most common dragonfly parasites are larval water mites. The small, red or green mite larvae attach themselves to the dragonfly nymph, and then to the adult dragonfly when it emerges. They feed on the dragonfly’s blood for 2 or 3 weeks, and eventually leave it to return to the water where they develop into adult mites. In most cases, the parasites do not appear to significantly harm to their host. However, very high numbers of parasites can cause deformation or lowered egg production in some individuals. "

Found in this link if I got it right
http://animaldiversity​.ummz.umich.edu …formation/Aniso​ptera.html

Maybe its those Larval Water Mites eh ??

Cheers for now
Mark

Thanks Mark!

Interesting capture - wonder if it's just a DF egg-laying accident rather than parasitic behaviour- can't think why a parasite would lay eggs on the wing.
Brian V.

LordV wrote in post #3953506
Interesting capture - wonder if it's just a DF egg-laying accident rather than parasitic behaviour- can't think why a parasite would lay eggs on the wing.
Brian V.

There were eggs on the tail as well. As much as dragons flap their wings in flight you'd think that eggs wouldn't stay on the wings, so I'm guessing that whatever laid them did it while the dragon was sleeping, or still trying to thaw out in the early morning.

It could have been an accident, the males do stick very close to the females when they lay eggs. I just can't see the eggs sticking to the wing while the dragon is in flight (the females lay eggs on the move).

Bandit:

Nice find! I tried to google it but only came up with redundant dragonfly info. What were your search terms?

Here's my Google efforts :http://www.lrdg.org.uk …arasite-common-darter.php
Has some interesting information.

tmonatr wrote in post #3954744
Here's my Google efforts :http://www.lrdg.org.uk …arasite-common-darter.php
Has some interesting information.

Thanks Tim! I just sent the author of that page an email.

Dalantech wrote in post #3955109
Thanks Tim! I just sent the author of that page an email.

Your very welcome.

Hiya Gaunemo,

All I did was type in ' Dragonfly Parasites ' & kept looking till I saw that luck not knowledge

Cheers for now
Mark

Gaunemo wrote in post #3954685
Bandit:

Nice find! I tried to google it but only came up with redundant dragonfly info. What were your search terms?

bandit 1 wrote in post #3961666
Hiya Gaunemo,

All I did was type in ' Dragonfly Parasites ' & kept looking till I saw that luck not knowledge

Cheers for now
Mark

Ah, that makes sense!