Black-faced Percher (5/12)

Odonata: Libellulidae

Diplacodes melanopsis  

There's not much that's gentle about the egg laying routine of the Black-faced Percher.

Having transferred the sperm, the male is now flying above the pond with his tail grasping his mate's neck and flicking her down as they travel so that she can pop out an egg below the water surface each time. The male steers them where underwater vegetation exists into which the eggs can fall.

The rapid violent swinging down of his mate, sometimes a number of times each second, must be pretty hard on her neck and she clings to the end of his abdomen for added support.