Dragonflies

We took a canoe trip on the James River yesterday. The whole trip was lots of fun with some unexpected educational moments. We realized early on in our trip that it was mating season for dragonflies (namely the Damselfly species). I spent a good part of the day observing the amazing process. Here is my theory based on my up close and personal research. The male attaches his head to the end of the female's tail. Then he bends his tail underneath himself and uses this tiny thorn looking thing on the end of his own tail to scratch a spot on the female's underside. This results in a thorny thing poking out of the female's underside. The male's thorn connects to the female just below her thorn and the female's thorn connects to the male just above his thorn. Once connected they can fly around without separating. This picture shows the shape they make once connected. God is amazing! Now I know dragonflies don't fall in love, get married, and then mate, but I think it is so cool that they form a heart shape while mating!