Dirty Insect Image No. 3

Valentine’s Day greetings from a pair of Subarctic Bluets (Coenagrion interrogatum) making more Subarctic Bluets at a pond in central Saskatchewan last summer. They’re in what we call the “copulatory wheel” – with the male, um, er, on top securing the female (at a point behind her head) with clamps (cerci and paraprocts) at the tip of his abdomen. She’s receiving sperm from genitalia located at the base of his abdomen (near his legs). Scroll down for “a different angle” and your valentine. (And find the complete set of Dirty Insect Images here.)