Awesome Animal Fact - Dragonflies playing dead

Did you know some female dragonflies fake their own death to avoid having sex with a male? In moorland hawker dragonflies, the males are often so aggressive that the females risk injury or death during mating. Females, when faced with an aggressive male, will freeze in mid-air, crash onto the ground, and then lie there without moving.

This doesn't mean the females don't mate at all, but they don't want to mate a second time after they've already laid their eggs. Here's the story. When summer begins to heat up, male moorland hawker dragonflies gather at the edges of ponds. When the females approach, the males aggressively pounce on them. The most aggressive males are the ones that get the females. So, the males have evolved to be very aggressive.

After mating, the male leaves, and the female lays her eggs. However, as the female leaves the area, often another male will attempt to pounce on her. This is when the female fakes her own death. After all, there's no reason to risk injury or death after she has already laid her eggs, right? And this trick works. Researchers found that more than 60% of females faking their own death successfully escaped the pouncing males. Then, when the researchers approached the "dead" females, the females immediately flew away—proving they were perfectly fine and alert through the whole process. And, 100% of the females who didn't fake their own death were caught by males.

This phenomenon is called sexual death feigning, and it has been observed in a few other animal species. However, in praying mantises and a specific type of spider, it is the males that fake their own death, to avoid being cannibalized by larger, aggressive females.

Photo Credits:
- Mating dragonflies - DepositPhotos