Grab your partner by the neck

No, that's not a square-dancing instruction, but damselfly foreplay.

These are small red damselflies (Ceriagrion tenellum), koraaljuffers in Dutch, about to mate. The male has grabbed the female by the neck:

^{Olympus Stylus 1s, 42mm, ISO200, f8, 1/80s}

^{Olympus Stylus 1s, 42mm, ISO200, f8, 1/60s}

I saw them the other day in the Armenveen, a peat bog in The Netherlands, near the German border.

They retreated discreetly for their mating, but here's an older photo showing how bendy they need to be for that:

^{Olympus XZ-1, 28mm, ISO100, f5.6, 1/100s}

Thanks for watching!