Bob Hobden

((X Posted))
Noticed on our new allotment that we have an enormous number of Damselflies
flying about and resting on the plants. Some are Large Reds (easy ID) but a
high proportion of others are brown with clear wings. The nearest water is
the tiny River Bourne which runs alongside the site.
I understand Damselflies are carnivores so should I welcome them as another
predator of aphids etc? I must admit that other than Flea Beetle there
hasn't been much insect pest about other than something nasty which attacked
me yesterday judging by the sore red lumps on ankle and elbow. :-(

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
17mls W. of London.UK

BAC

"Bob Hobden" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:4f6619F1g5sg7U1@individual.net...
> ((X Posted))
> Noticed on our new allotment that we have an enormous number of
Damselflies
> flying about and resting on the plants. Some are Large Reds (easy ID) but
a
> high proportion of others are brown with clear wings. The nearest water is
> the tiny River Bourne which runs alongside the site.
> I understand Damselflies are carnivores so should I welcome them as
another
> predator of aphids etc? I must admit that other than Flea Beetle there
> hasn't been much insect pest about other than something nasty which
attacked
> me yesterday judging by the sore red lumps on ankle and elbow. :-(
>

Damselflies are predators of other small insects, especially mosquitoes, so
it's doubtful they'll be doing any harm to your allotment.

Brian

"Bob Hobden" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:4f6619F1g5sg7U1@individual.net...
> ((X Posted))
> Noticed on our new allotment that we have an enormous number of
Damselflies
> flying about and resting on the plants. Some are Large Reds (easy ID) but
a
> high proportion of others are brown with clear wings. The nearest water is
> the tiny River Bourne which runs alongside the site.
> I understand Damselflies are carnivores so should I welcome them as
another
> predator of aphids etc? I must admit that other than Flea Beetle there
> hasn't been much insect pest about other than something nasty which
attacked
> me yesterday judging by the sore red lumps on ankle and elbow. :-(
>
> --
> Regards
> Bob Hobden
> 17mls W. of London.UK
~~~~~~~~~~~~
The imagines [adults] of these insects don't need to feed in
the conventional way. They are only designed to look for egg laying sites.
The nymph stage is a voraceous carnivore but only of what it can find in the
water. If handled they can bite! All similar to dragonflies.
Best Wishes Brian
>
>
>
>
>
>

BAC

"Brian" <bflay@tiscali.co.uk--- 'flayb' to respond> wrote in message
news:448ef549$1_4@mk-nntp-2.news.uk.tiscali.com...
>
> "Bob Hobden" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
> news:4f6619F1g5sg7U1@individual.net...
> > ((X Posted))
> > Noticed on our new allotment that we have an enormous number of
> Damselflies
> > flying about and resting on the plants. Some are Large Reds (easy ID)
but
> a
> > high proportion of others are brown with clear wings. The nearest water
is
> > the tiny River Bourne which runs alongside the site.
> > I understand Damselflies are carnivores so should I welcome them as
> another
> > predator of aphids etc? I must admit that other than Flea Beetle there
> > hasn't been much insect pest about other than something nasty which
> attacked
> > me yesterday judging by the sore red lumps on ankle and elbow. :-(
> >
> > --
> > Regards
> > Bob Hobden
> > 17mls W. of London.UK
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~
> The imagines [adults] of these insects don't need to feed in
> the conventional way. They are only designed to look for egg laying sites.
> The nymph stage is a voraceous carnivore but only of what it can find in
the
> water. If handled they can bite! All similar to dragonflies.
> Best Wishes Brian
> >
> >

Regardless of whether or not they need to eat in the conventional way, adult
damselflies, like adult dragonflies are active predators of any insect
smaller than themselves. I've watched damsels and dragons hawking and
feeding many times.

http://web.ukonline.co.uk/conker/pon...ragonflies.htm

Bob Hobden

"BAC" wrote in response to
>
> "Brian" who replied to
>>
>> "Bob Hobden"
>> > ((X Posted))
>> > Noticed on our new allotment that we have an enormous number of
>> Damselflies
>> > flying about and resting on the plants. Some are Large Reds (easy ID)
> but
>> a
>> > high proportion of others are brown with clear wings. The nearest water
> is
>> > the tiny River Bourne which runs alongside the site.
>> > I understand Damselflies are carnivores so should I welcome them as
>> another
>> > predator of aphids etc? I must admit that other than Flea Beetle there
>> > hasn't been much insect pest about other than something nasty which
>> attacked
>> > me yesterday judging by the sore red lumps on ankle and elbow. :-(
>> >
>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~
>> The imagines [adults] of these insects don't need to feed in
>> the conventional way. They are only designed to look for egg laying
>> sites.
>> The nymph stage is a voraceous carnivore but only of what it can find in
> the
>> water. If handled they can bite! All similar to dragonflies.
>
> Regardless of whether or not they need to eat in the conventional way,
> adult
> damselflies, like adult dragonflies are active predators of any insect
> smaller than themselves. I've watched damsels and dragons hawking and
> feeding many times.
>
> http://web.ukonline.co.uk/conker/pon...ragonflies.htm
>

Well I see then daily around my pond, the dragonflies seem to actively hunt,
constantly flying and on the lookout, whereas the Damselflies seem to lay in
wait on a plant and almost ambush their victims with a short flight.
Point is, do they take aphids off the plants or only when in flight?

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
17mls W. of London.UK

Kate

"Bob Hobden" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:4f8om3F1gttbvU1@individual.net...
>
> "BAC" wrote in response to
>>
>> "Brian" who replied to
>>>
>>> "Bob Hobden"
>>> > ((X Posted))
>>> > Noticed on our new allotment that we have an enormous number of
>>> Damselflies
>>> > flying about and resting on the plants. Some are Large Reds
>>> > (easy ID)
>> but
>>> a
>>> > high proportion of others are brown with clear wings. The
>>> > nearest water
>> is
>>> > the tiny River Bourne which runs alongside the site.
>>> > I understand Damselflies are carnivores so should I welcome them
>>> > as
>>> another
>>> > predator of aphids etc? I must admit that other than Flea Beetle
>>> > there
>>> > hasn't been much insect pest about other than something nasty
>>> > which
>>> attacked
>>> > me yesterday judging by the sore red lumps on ankle and elbow.
>>> > :-(
>>> >
>>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>> The imagines [adults] of these insects don't need to
>>> feed in
>>> the conventional way. They are only designed to look for egg
>>> laying sites.
>>> The nymph stage is a voraceous carnivore but only of what it can
>>> find in
>> the
>>> water. If handled they can bite! All similar to dragonflies.
>>
>> Regardless of whether or not they need to eat in the conventional
>> way, adult
>> damselflies, like adult dragonflies are active predators of any
>> insect
>> smaller than themselves. I've watched damsels and dragons hawking
>> and
>> feeding many times.
>>
>> http://web.ukonline.co.uk/conker/pon...ragonflies.htm
>>
>
> Well I see then daily around my pond, the dragonflies seem to
> actively hunt, constantly flying and on the lookout, whereas the
> Damselflies seem to lay in wait on a plant and almost ambush their
> victims with a short flight.
> Point is, do they take aphids off the plants or only when in flight?
>
> --
> Regards
> Bob Hobden
> 17mls W. of London.UK

Only in flight. Their forelegs are designed to grab their prey on the
wing. If the prey is large, they will land to consume it. I have a
photo of a common blue devouring a hoverfly. I took three shots in
quick succession, and by the last one, the hoverfly was almost
consumed. Marvellous creatures, damsel/dragonflies. Their design is
so efficient, it hasn`t changed in millions of years. Their lives as
an imago are very short so just enjoy their beauty, Bob.

Kate

BAC

"Bob Hobden" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:4f8om3F1gttbvU1@individual.net...
>
> "BAC" wrote in response to
> >
> > "Brian" who replied to
> >>
> >> "Bob Hobden"
> >> > ((X Posted))
> >> > Noticed on our new allotment that we have an enormous number of
> >> Damselflies
> >> > flying about and resting on the plants. Some are Large Reds (easy ID)
> > but
> >> a
> >> > high proportion of others are brown with clear wings. The nearest
water
> > is
> >> > the tiny River Bourne which runs alongside the site.
> >> > I understand Damselflies are carnivores so should I welcome them as
> >> another
> >> > predator of aphids etc? I must admit that other than Flea Beetle
there
> >> > hasn't been much insect pest about other than something nasty which
> >> attacked
> >> > me yesterday judging by the sore red lumps on ankle and elbow. :-(
> >> >
> >> ~~~~~~~~~~~~
> >> The imagines [adults] of these insects don't need to feed
in
> >> the conventional way. They are only designed to look for egg laying
> >> sites.
> >> The nymph stage is a voraceous carnivore but only of what it can find
in
> > the
> >> water. If handled they can bite! All similar to dragonflies.
> >
> > Regardless of whether or not they need to eat in the conventional way,
> > adult
> > damselflies, like adult dragonflies are active predators of any insect
> > smaller than themselves. I've watched damsels and dragons hawking and
> > feeding many times.
> >
> > http://web.ukonline.co.uk/conker/pon...ragonflies.htm
> >
>
> Well I see then daily around my pond, the dragonflies seem to actively
hunt,
> constantly flying and on the lookout, whereas the Damselflies seem to lay
in
> wait on a plant and almost ambush their victims with a short flight.
> Point is, do they take aphids off the plants or only when in flight?
>

Personally, I've never seen a damsel take an aphid off a plant, but that
doesn't mean they can't/won't. In fact, unless it were physically impossible
for them to do so, I'd be surprised if they did not.