Drum rolls for the Nature India photo contest 2016 finalist number three:

Deepak Sahu, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India.

Photo caption: ‘Dragon Love’

Deepak describes this rare catch thus:

“This image depicts a uniquely complex mode of reproduction among dragonflies. During mating, the male grasps the female at the back of the head or on the prothorax, and the female curls her abdomen under her body to pick up sperm from the male’s secondary genitalia at the front of his abdomen, forming the “heart” or “wheel” posture — such an apt symbolism for love and procreation. It’s a pity that loss of wetlands is threatening the population of these beautiful dragonflies around the world.”

The image was shot in October 2015 near the vast wetland of Mangalajodi in Odisha.

Fantastic catch, Deepak! And welcome to the top ten. All the very best for the top slots!

The Nature India photo contest is in it’s third year. It has received an overwhelming response with hundreds of entries from around the world. The theme for 2016 was simply ‘Nature’ but, as always, we were looking for an inherent connect of the photos with science.

The Nature India editorial and design team is sure having a tough time selecting just three winners, who stand a chance of seeing their entries grace the cover page of one of our forthcoming print publications. The winner and two runners-up will receive a copy of the just released Nature India Special Annual Volume and a bag of goodies from Springer Nature.

As a run up to the final announcement, we are rolling out the top 10 finalists of the photo competition (in no particular order of merit) over the next few days on the Indigenus blog as well as our social media platforms (Twitter and Facebook). The final results will be announced in late December 2016.

Nature India’s final decision to chose the winner will be partly influenced by the engagement and reception he/she receives here at the Indigenus blog, on Twitter and on Facebook. To give all finalists a fair chance, we will take into consideration the social media engagement of each picture only during the first seven days of its announcement.

So watch out for our other finalists and feel free to promote, share and like your favourite entries with the hashtag #NatureIndphoto.