Dragon Fly (female)

Description:

Here is a female of the species Plathemis lydia. What you see here is the female splashing water onto her egg mass. While you cannot see the eggs, they are a little higher up on the rock than the top of the water, as the water has dropped quite a bit due to recent warmer temperatures, and natural drainage of the stream that cuts across the back of the property.

Notes:

What is extremely interesting about this behavior, is the fact that the mother continually takes care of her offspring until they hatch. Something humans rarely consider when thinking or talking about insects of any kind. The care and constant attention she's giving to her brood to make sure that they hatch and are able to get into the water and not dry out is amazing. It's maternal instinct at it's base level. Procreation and instinct to ensure the next generation has the highest chance of survival is universal. (not always seen, however in this case it's extremely awesome)