Butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies.

In here you will find a lovely variety of our colorful insects. First up are the butterflies.

We were also happy to rescue a small damselfly from becoming a gecko supper that you will see at the end of the post.

There is a plethora of insects here in the Western Cape, due to all of the fruit farms, and the rivers and dams also attract different species of insects. Obviously, as the river is close to our place and it runs through the town, many insects spill over into the suburbs. At times, we can even find little Cape Dwarf Chameleons here. I love to see their intricate and colorful designs. So today I will show you some samples and I am sure that you will also appreciate their natural colors and beauty.
Come and have a look.

These butterflies are tiny, (12mm) and they are of the Blues family. (Lycaenidae-Polyommatinae)

Then we have this lovely brown and yellow lady, called the Cape Autumn Widow (Dira clytus). I don't know why she is called a widow, or how many husbands she has had:)

Now let's look at some Autumn dragonflies.

This is the Broad Scarlet Dragonfly (Crocothemis eythraea).

I have no idea what this one below is called, as the sun behind it made identifying it very difficult.

I think this is a female Red-veined Dropwing (Trithemis arteriosa).

This one in flight I know well and it's a Blue Emperor (Anax imperator).

Finally I will end with a little rescue story.
Life is certainly strange at times with the things that it shows us.

I was so sad to see this little dead Damselfly floating in a dam.

But look what came in to sit on the side of our high wall at the back garden when we got home. A real live damselfly that they call a Common Threadtail (Elattoneura glauca).

The back garden is the hunting territory of many Cape dwarf geckos and immediately this little guy took an interest in the small damselfly.

Sorry mate, not today as my wife caught the damselfly in a small bucket.

And she put the damselfly in a safe spot in our front garden.

I was busy pruning the lemon tree in our back garden, when the damselfly rescue took place. "Hey, look what came to visit us", my wife said as she sat at a small table preparing some seedlings. It was the little damselfly. Then, "Oh no! The gecko is coming for it, come and help".
So patiently I put the shears down and obeyed my wife's call.
You saw the result in the pictures above.

We don't usually disturb the cycles of nature, but we both received a boost as she also saw the dead little damselfly in the dam. So it was a real uplifting experience to help the little live one. Of course, I apologized to the gecko and my wife agreed that she would give him a fly. Cape geckos see flies as a five-star meal and in two bites the meal disappears.
Just some fun that we had today, for a change.

Hope you enjoyed the photos and the story.

And That's All Friends.

Camera: Canon Powershot SX70HS Bridge camera.

Photos by Zac Smith-All Rights Reserved.

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