Sunday, November 28, 2010

Damselfly Rescue



 I often come across damselflies in my garden. They come in a range of colours, each one more beautiful than the other. The two pictures below were taken from a wild part of my mother's garden.
Damselflies are insects in the order Odanata. Damselflies are similar to dragonflies but the adults can be differentiated 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, weaker fliers than dragonflies, and their eyes are separated. Source:Wiki.
The other day I found a damselfly caught in a spider web. Very gently, I pulled it out. Using the word pull does sound harsh for such a fragile-looking insect but damselflies are aggressive insects and many will pray on other damselflies. This one was a fighter. Its wings were stuck together and because it had been caught in the web, my hands felt like I had touched glue. I placed it on a datura bloom (the nearest one) making sure that it could grip the edge of the petal and put its wings back in order. If you click on the photos you'll see the remains of the web on its body.





After struggling for a while, it fell off the bloom and I placed it on a neighbouring plant, the sedge. The struggle with the gooey stuff was nearly over but the right wings were still stuck together. I left it there to hurry back to my chores. When I came to check it later, it was nowhere to be seen.
I looked under the plant but didn't find it. With the right wings stuck together, I doubt whether it could even fly  to the next leaf. Or maybe it did!

Friday, November 26, 2010

Skywatch Friday

Time for beecrobatics!:) A carpenter bee silhouetted against the afternoon sky.
To see more pictures of skies from across the world, go to http://skyley.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

A Lucky Sighting!

Welcome to my blog. I've always been fascinated by wildlife around me and although I've been blogging for the past four years I felt that I needed a new spot to share the several pictures that I take nearly every day. I'm happy to start my post with a lucky sighting today.


This is the Common Crow butterfly/Euploea core. It's also referred to as the Common Indian Crow and is found in South Asia. Although I had seen the caterpillar and the chrysalis earlier this year, I was disappointed to find out that the chrysalis had a hole in the middle. My guess is that a spider must have been the predator at large.
Earlier this month I was happy to see two caterpillars on the fig plant. They soon fattened up but I found only one  chrysalis.
It  was a pale creamish colour and difficult to get a good shot.
 Later it changed to a beautiful green. Sorry for the blurry pictures...somehow the light turned against me:)
But  to see this sight this morning is a moment I'll never forget. It stayed for a long while drying its wings. As I clicked away, I saw a tiny caterpillar (same species) munching away. I hope my fig plant and I will witness many such occasions in the years to come.
Thank you for stopping by.


The butterfly counts not months but moments and has time enough.~ Rabindranath Tagore