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Austrolestes cingulatus
Metallic Ringtail damselflies. There were mating pairs everywhere at Beattie's Tarn last Friday: in the air, on the plants, and even fully submerged below the water surface. Shots included of one pair above the surface (male, female, and pair), and two shots of one pair ovipositing with both of them fully submerged.
In the vicinity of the water's edge. Beattie's Tarn, Mount Field National Park, Tasmania.
Spotted on Jan 6, 2017
Submitted on Jan 12, 2017
11 Comments
Congrats on the SOTW.
They're definitely not vegie-mites. :)
Thanks for the info.
A bit of a search turned up a 1953 paper listing 27 species of Hydracarina (or Hydrachnellae) water mites that have been identified in Tasmania, so most likely it was one of these mites..
There you go...
"Bright red water mites Hydracarina are often seen on the outside of both nymphs and adults, and can move from one to the other at metamorphosis.[20] They suck the body fluids and may actually kill young nymphs, but adults are relatively unaffected, it being necessary for the completion of the mite's life cycle that it returns to water, a feat accomplished when the adult damselfly breeds.[31] Source: Wikipedia
Not sure if these are the same species of mites.
Yes Brett. I noticed them (mites) on the second male as well. Would be interesting to see if there is any more to this..
Thanks Leuba. Looking online, it appears they might be. I was a bit puzzled by them. If you look at the first underwater shot, that male (a different one) had them too.
Could that be a clump of mites on the underside of the thorax on the male ?(main pic).
Good series & photos Brett. Thanks.
Fabulous spotting and photos Brett.
Thanks @DanielePralong :-)
And thanks fire your kind words andrecoppe, BonnieLewis and Polilla
Beautiful spotting! congrats!
Beautiful shot!
Your spotting has been nominated for the Spotting of the Week. The winner will be chosen by the Project Noah Rangers based on a combination of factors including: uniqueness of the shot, status of the organism (for example, rare or endangered), quality of the information provided in the habitat and description sections. There is a subjective element, of course; the spotting with the highest number of Ranger votes is chosen. Congratulations on being nominated Brett!