This position is unique in the insect kingdom: the heart-shaped commingling of mating damselflies.
This pair of bluets in copulatory position, also called the wheel, shows the male on top in their rendezvous above the water. Following courtship (more on that to come), the male flies over and grabs the female from behind. She can choose whether to mate with him or not, knowing by touch if he is of the same species. He clasps her neck with the tip of his abdomen, sometimes with a bite to subdue her. The tip of her abdomen, where her eggs are, then swings around underneath to connect with his penis. They will remain in tandem linkage, perched or flying about , for a few seconds, minutes or hours.
The definitive guide, Dragonflies and Damselflies of the West, Princeton University Press, by Dennis Paulson supplied these details. He added, “If sperm from another mating is already present, the male removes or flushes out much of it, thus making it highly likely that his sperm will fertilize her eggs.”
Females can fake death to avoid aggressive males (Why Female Dragonflies Go to Extreme Lengths to Avoid Sex, National Geographic, May 2017) It’s called sexual death feigning and has been observed in the Swiss Alps, where female Moorland Hawkers can freeze mid-air, crash to the ground and lie motionless. When the male is gone, they get up and fly away.