Marginal pond plants for dragonflies

Using upright Marginal Shelf Pond Plants helps dragonflies and damselflies climb out of pond water now.

You can watch this amazing spectacle - often in the early morning or late evening.

Please video it if you see this happening and send it to us for everyone to see.  We saw this one emerging a bit late as the climb had happened but it is our best so far!

Dragonflies use any tall stems of an upright shelf pond plant:

Make sure you have plenty of plants growing upwards out of the water at this time of year. See our suggestions on this link.

• Plants used by dragonflies and damselfly larvae all have these plants have their roots and baskets below the water surface.
• The water-based larvae start to climb on foliage below the water surface.
• To have their final metamorphosis into adulthood the larvae will climb up the stem into the air.
• For us to make the selection  of 3 upright plants for you - choose our Pond Pond Plants for Dragonflies.
• Or look at Acorus, Alisma plantago-aquatica, Anemopsis californica,  Butomus umbellatus, Carex acutiformis, Cyperus, Eriophorum angustifolium, water Iris, Lythrum salicaria, Typha or Pontederia varieties which are all good varieties for this.
• Emerging larvae will climb up the stems and grip tightly on before pushing open a slit down in the back of its outer casing.
• It will push its way free of the casing. Then hang onto the stem to harden its body and inflate the veins in its wings ready for flight.
• The empty casing is abandoned on the plant.

You will see the mating & courtship behaviour next:

• Within hours you can see the adults flit and fly above the water and within days they will mate.
• Some mate in a copulatory wheel circle, others will mate in the air as the female deposits her eggs back into the pond.

You can also watch the female deposit her eggs back into the pond:

• She stretches her ovipositor (tail) down under the water surface into the plants or into mud in the margins of the pond.
• Waterlilies, Hydrocharis morsus-ranae (Frogbit) and Ranunculus flammula would help support her when she oviposits.
• Watch our video of this on our Tips and Advice page
• Or you can watch them mate & deposit eggs as they fly.
• Cameras at the ready!

Send us any videos of dragon or damselfly if you manage to see them. It’s a hard one to catch on camera.

• See videos on our Tips and Advice page

See all our photos of the lifecycle stages of dragon or damselflies on our Tips and Advice page.

Add more marginal pond plants for dragonflies and damselflies to use during emerging - see our ideas below: