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MANY THANKS FOR YOUR KIND COMMENTS AND FAVS........ PLEASE TAKE A LOOK AT MY PHOTOSTREAM, FOR GENERAL PHOTOS OF NATURE ACROSS THE WHOLE SPECTRUM OF WILDLIFE

A pair of large damselflies (pyrrhosoma nymphula) in the embrace of 'love'. They are essentially a European damselfly, with some populations in North Africa and Western Asia.

They are often confused with the small red damselfly, which has orange legs, unlike the large damselfly which has black legs.

In the photo the latter of the pair with the yellow bands around its abdominal segments is the female, which incidentally comes in three forms.

Allow me if I may, to add some thoughts on the heart of love: love is not merely words but needs to be put into practice, in the same a song has to be sung to be a song. It is essentially self-giving, reaching out to others, without prejudice and discrimination. There is no greater value greater than love; it brings everything to completion.

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MANY THANKS FOR YOUR KIND COMMENTS AND FAVS........ PLEASE TAKE A LOOK AT MY PHOTOSTREAM, FOR GENERAL PHOTOS OF NATURE ACROSS THE WHOLE SPECTRUM OF WILDLIFE.

As with most hoverflies, long hoverflies, with their yellow and black coloration, are wasp mimics. They get their name from the thin, stick-like shape of the male's abdomen, which is noticably longer than its wings.

A European species of hoverfly, they are found in meadows, gardens and wasteland, where they are seen hovering around flowerhead, feeding on nectar and pollen. Comparatively tiny, they are no more than 12mm in size, but nevertheless are migratory.

They complete their life cycle in as little as 16 days and in a single year may have a maximum of 9 generations. The larva, which overwinter, once hatched, feed on ground-layer aphids.

As you can see, the male is the right hand one of the pair. They were coveniently positioned on the edge of a large leaf, which in this case, happened to be that of a bird of paradise, potted up in my garden.

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During the spring changes in external factors such as rainfall, temperature and length of the day, stimulate frogs to breed. During the height of the spawning, the male frogs croak to compete for a female. The croaking, reverberating day and night, can travel a distance of 50 metres. The females are attracted to the males with the loudest and longest croak. The successful male climbs on the back of the female and grasps her under the forelegs with his nuptial pads, and kicks away any other males that try to grasp her. He then stays attached in this position until she lays her eggs, which he fertilises by spraying sperm over them as they are released. Frog spawn consists of between 1,000 and 2,000 eggs. In 3-4 days it's all over, and they disperse. It's a very short window of opportunity. I hope you enjoy the images, I will be posting in due course.

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