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Female dragonflies pretend to be dead to avoid males, because of course they do

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Christina Careaga

on May 1, 2017

Female dragonflies pretend to be dead to avoid males, because of course they do

Credit: Shutterstock / Nuwat Phansuwan

Great (female) minds think alike.

Last week, it was widely reported that Rassim Khelifa from the University of Zurich in Switzerland discovered that female dragonflies sometimes fake sudden death to avoid male dragonflies.

"While collecting their larvae in the Swiss Alps, [Khelifa] watched a female [dragonfly] crash-dive to the ground while being pursued by a male," New Scientist reported, "The female then lay motionless on her back. Her suitor soon flew away, and the female took off once the coast was clear."

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