Adult Damselfly laying eggs 30cm underwater in aquarium

 

 
This damselfly adult flew in the window, landed on the tips of the Vallisneria nana and proceeded to walk backwards down the blades of the val to lay eggs a good 30cm under water. The body and wing cuticle repels water so it traps a thin skin of air around it making it look silver. It happily marched around for a good 10-15 mins while I took photos and poked it with a stick to interrupt the egg laying. Damselfly larvae are predators and I can do without them in this tank!

I always thought they landed on plants at the surface and just poked their bums underwater to lay the eggs. Its a neat strategy... as in the wild it allows for the pools to dry up a bit and the eggs remain underwater.

Another plus for open topped tanks.

(I'll recant those words if Damselfly larvae start eating fry!)

The fluffy plant is Limnophila brownii​