Ovipositing Female & Mate-guarding Male of Japanese Skimmer Dragonfly at the Pond 240fps

A mature female Japanese skimmer (Orthetrum japonicum, family Libellulidae) was found tapping the water surface of a submontane pond with the tip of her abdomen to lay her eggs. She was flying alone while ovipositing. And a male partner was mate-guarding nearby. As you can see, the Orthetrum japonicum is sexually dimorphic in the body colouration. Unlike many other dragonfly species, the couple of Orthetrum japonicum do not perform tandem flight but fly separately after mating. When another male came flying, two males fought fiercely in the air over the female. After a brief dogfight, the winner male successfully mated with the female on the shore vegetation. The pair separated soon and the female resumed oviposition at the breeding pond. Replayed at 5x slow-motion (0:55-). The wingbeats in oviposition flight were also recorded at 240-fps high-speed movie or 8x slow-motion (4:08-). Captured in the sunny late-morning (around 10:20 AM) of mid-May 2026 in Japan. The air temperature was 27 degrees Celsius and the water temperature was 22 deg C at the sunlit shoreline. For a full story (text in Japanese); https://sigma-nature-vlog.blogspot.com/2026/07/fhd_01947025613.html 0:00 60 fps FHD 0:55 Replay at 5x slo-mo 4:08 240 fps (8x slo-mo)