I am always awe struck this time of year by the antics of dragonflies around
our ponds. The aerial dogfights of the mainly male groups are mesmerizing as
are their striking colors and patterns. Yet the females are often much less
handsome than the males.
I show two examples of males and females from our farm in Baywood, VA, to
illustrate this point. The female slaty and widow skimmers are predominantly
colored in drab hues that seem well designed as camouflage. In contrast the
males are colored with striking patterns of blues and whites.
Why is there this difference in colors and patterns that make the males more
"handsome" or showy than the females? The usual explanation is that the males
are displaying their virility and competing among themselves for territory at
the ponds. The females come to the ponds and choose which males they want to
mate with, based perhaps on the appearance of the male and/or the quality of
his territory .
I am constantly amazed that such primitive insects as dragonflies (about
250-300 million years old) have such an intricate system of reproduction. This
seems to be another example of how early in geological time complex behaviors
could have originated, compared to the relatively recent origin of humans.
Bill Dunson
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