What's wrong with this dragonfly?

[Gengh]

I noticed that this dragonfly had a bunch of stuff attached to its underside, so I took a few shots of it. As far as I know, dragonflies lay their eggs in water and don't carry them around, so they shouldn't be eggs. Is there some parasite growing on this dragonfly? Or some other kind of "invader"? Anyone knows?

[night86mare]

ouch.

that is a very bad infestation.

those are parasitic mites.

link

[Gengh]

I see, it's some sort of water mite larvae. Sounds bad for the dragonfly, since larvae usually need to feed.

[ex0rzist]

Yikes ! I thought it was dragonfly eggs.......Nice capture Gengh

[Gengh]

Originally Posted by ex0rzist Yikes ! I thought it was dragonfly eggs.......Nice capture Gengh

Thanks! Hope I don't see too many of these cases around... looks sad for the dragonfly.