Damselflies

The Blue-tailed Damselfly, Ischnura elegans, is a European damselfly.

Adult male Blue-tailed Damselflies have a head and thorax patterned with blue and black. They have a largely black abdomen with very narrow pale markings where each segment joins the next. Segment eight, however, is entirely pale blue.

Female Blue-tailed Damselflies come in a variety of colour forms, including a pink form, a violet form and a pale green form. Purple/violet, pink and green forms are juvenile, with the colour darkening as the damselfly ages. Mature female damselflies are usually brown/green, or blue which is an andromorph form.

Damselfly nymphs are aquatic, and prey on small aquatic insects or other aquatic larvae. The adult damselflies prey on small flying insects, caught using their legs like a basket to scoop the prey up while flying, or insects taken from leaves.

At rest, the wings of most damselfly species are held back together, unlike dragonflies, which rest with their wings out flat.

Damselflies (suborder Zygoptera) are insects in the order Odonata. Damselflies are similar to dragonflies, but the adults can be distinguished by the fact that the wings of most damselflies are held along, and parallel to, the body when at rest. Furthermore, the hindwing of the damselfly is essentially similar to the forewing, while the hindwing of the dragonfly broadens near the base. Damselflies are also usually smaller than dragonflies and weaker fliers in comparison, and their eyes are separated.

Damselflies undergo incomplete metamorphosis, with an aquatic nymph stage. The female lays the eggs in water, sometimes in underwater vegetation, or high in trees in bromeliads and other water-filled cavities. Nymphs are carnivorous, feeding on daphnia, mosquito larvae, and various other small aquatic organisms, using extendable jaws similar to those of the dragonfly nymph. The gills of damselfly nymphs are large and external, resembling three fins at the end of the abdomen. After moulting several times, the winged adult emerges and eats flies, mosquitoes, and other small insects. Some of the larger tropical species are known to feed on spiders, hovering near the web and plucking the spider from its nest.

Damselflies rest their wings together, on both sides of their bodies. Dragonflies, however, have wings that are spread apart, even while resting.

Odonata is an order of carnivorous insects, encompassing dragonflies (Anisoptera/Epiprocta) and damselflies (Zygoptera). The word dragonfly is also sometimes used to refer to all Odonata, but odonate is a more correct English name for the group as a whole. Odonata enthusiasts avoid ambiguity by using the term true dragonfly, or simply Anisopteran, when referring to just the Anisoptera. The term Warriorfly has also been proposed. Some 5,900 species have been described in this order.

Insects (from Latin insectum, a calque of Greek ἔντομον [éntomon], "cut into sections") are a class of invertebrates within the arthropod phylum that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes and one pair of antennae. They are among the most diverse groups of animals on the planet, including more than a million described species and representing more than half of all known living organisms. The number of extant species is estimated at between six and ten million, and potentially represent over 90% of the differing animal life forms on Earth. Insects may be found in nearly all environments, although only a small number of species reside in the oceans, a habitat dominated by another arthropod group, crustaceans.

The life cycles of insects vary (from one day^{[citation needed]} to a few years), but most insects hatch from eggs. Insect growth is constrained by the inelastic exoskeleton and development involves a series of molts. The immature stages can differ from the adults in structure, habit and habitat, and can include a passive pupal stage in those groups that undergo complete metamorphosis. Insects that undergo incomplete metamorphosis lack a pupal stage and adults develop through a series of nymphal stages. The higher level relationship of the hexapoda is unclear. Fossilized insects of enormous size have been found from the Paleozoic Era, including giant dragonflies with wingspans of 55 to 70 cm (22–28 in). The most diverse insect groups appear to have coevolved with flowering plants.

In biology, mating is the pairing of opposite-sex or hermaphroditic organisms for copulation. In social animals, it also includes the raising of their offspring. Copulation is the union of the sex organs of two sexually reproducing animals for insemination and subsequent internal fertilization. For the majority of species, this will be two individuals of opposite sexes; for a small number of species, this can be hermaphroditic, as is the case with, for example, snails.

For animals, mating methods include random mating, disassortative mating, assortative mating, or a mating pool. In some birds, it includes such behaviours as nest-building and feeding offspring. The human practice of mating domesticated animals and of artificially inseminating them is part of animal husbandry.

Sexual intercourse, or copulation or coitus, is the insertion and thrusting of a male's penis into a female's vagina for the purposes of sexual pleasure or reproduction. Other sexual penetrative acts, such as anal sex, oral sex, fingering, or use of a strap-on dildo, can also be considered sexual intercourse.

Sexual intercourse commonly plays a strong role in human bonding, usually being used solely for pleasure and often leading to stronger emotional bonds, and there are a variety of views concerning what constitutes sexual intercourse or other sexual activity. For example, non-penetrative sex (such as non-penetrative cunnilingus) has been referred to as "outercourse", but may also be among the sexual acts contributing to human bonding and considered intercourse. The term sex, often a shorthand for sexual intercourse, can be taken to mean any form of sexual activity. Because individuals can be at risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections during these activities, though the transmission risk is significantly reduced during non-penetrative sex, safe sex practices are advised.

In human societies, some jurisdictions have placed various restrictive laws against certain sexual activities, such as sex with minors, incest, extramarital sex, position-of-trust sex, prostitution, sodomy, public lewdness, rape, and bestiality. Religious beliefs can play a role in decisions about sex, or its purpose, as well; for example, beliefs about what sexual acts constitute virginity loss or the decision to make a virginity pledge. Some sections of Christianity commonly view sex between a married couple for the purpose of reproduction as holy, while other sections may not. Modern Judaism and Islam view sexual intercourse between husband and wife as a spiritual and edifying action. Hinduism and Buddhism views on sexuality have differing interpretations.