Photo of the Month

Every month we have a photograph on special offer. For March 2010 we've selected the photo below (PhotoID: Da060). Please click on it to display a larger version (1050 x 700 pixels).

The damselfly in the photograph is a mature female Common Bluetail (Ischnura elegans) of the so-called "infuscans" (or "B-type") colour form. Ischnura elegans is one of our commonest and most widespread species and it occurs pretty much everywhere throughout Europe (with the exception of Iberia and Northern Scandinavia).

And yet the photograph below is quite remarkable in that it shows the female Bluetail devouring (the eyes of) a female Blue Featherleg (Platycnemis pennipes), which was a fair bit bigger than herself but which she had attacked anyway, presumably to get the protein boost required for her egg production. To read a detailed account of this somewhat gruesome scene, please refer to our entry for 2 May in our 2007 diary or, alternatively, hover your mouse here.

You can order the Photo of the Month and get a 20% discount on its usual price. For more details, see prices of soft copies and prices of prints.