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Vagrant darter 

 

 

Beautiful weather and at once dragonflies are moving about. For next week we expect an Indian or Old wives summer too. On such days dragonflies let themselves be nicely observed in warm and sunny spots; they often come to spots chosen by humans too.

 

The vagrant darter has a truly long flight period here; we meet them starting in May, and with good weather still see them in October. In addition to the above-mentioned, five more darter or skimmer (Sympetrum) dragonflies live in Estonia.

 

Preferred habitats are near shallow, vegetation-rich water bodies that heat up quickly.

 

Mating vagrant darters

 

Dragonflies are poikilothermic, or “cold-blooded”, but larger dragonflies are able to raise their body temperature themselves, and so they can also be seen in autumn weather. Mating darters in October are not rare because immediately after the mating they go to the nearest water body for egg-laying. The eggs laid in autumn overwinter and are hatched next spring.