Damselfly in Distress

In early June of this year, I was up in the San Juan Mountains, checking cattle tanks for Tiger Salamanders. There were lots of Salamanders - and also Damselflies. The Damselflies were mating and just generally flitting and darting just above the water surface

Water-strider with newly captured Damselfly. The struggles of the Damselfly have left heart-shaped waves in the water

As I walked along the edge of the pond, I saw a splash on the water surface.  A Water-strider had somehow managed to grab a male Damselfly. From the position of the Water-strider on the Damselfly’s back, I’m assuming that the Damselfly had crashed into the water, and then the Water-strider had leapt onto him.

As the Damselfly struggled, his wings left a series of cartoon heart-shapes in the water. I thought this aquatic struggle-Valentine was ironic, given that the Damselfly was probably at the water surface because of his romantic interests.

The Water-strider seemed to easily handle the Damselfly. The Water-strider just stayed in a stable position above the Damselfly, bracing itself against the water surface with its legs while the Damselfly thrashed and rowed with his wings. Presumably the Water-strider had also inserted its hypodermic-needle mouthparts into the Damselfly.

The Damselfly managed to drag the Water-strider through the water for some distance before finally succumbing.

Waterstrider with captured Damselfly

Prior to this, I’d seen Water-striders eating prey. I had not seen them with freshly-caught prey, though. I was impressed by how calm and unruffled the Water-strider was throughout this whole affair. It seemed to exert no effort at all.

Because the Water-strider had spread its legs wide for lateral stability and braced itself against the elastic water surface, the Damselfly was fighting the water’s surface tension more than he was fighting the muscular force of the Water-strider.

This was a very cool thing to see.