Large Red Damselfly - male (5:1), Heesch, Netherlands

Henriette found this struggling damselfly on the doorstep of our garden, saving it from being squashed as we regularly pass through there. It looked bodily intact yet barely moving and very sandy. It made no attempt to flee or escape. I already had it in a tube as a stacking subject, when I changed my mind and gave it a second chance. It put it in a sunny place and gave it drips of water. I waited for 4 hours yet it stayed in its miserable state. It wasn't going to make it. I found 4 more of the same species in the garden, all healthy.

As a side note: it concerns me to find insects that are bodily intact yet dying. It has me thinking they may have a neurological problem. Read: they are poisoned. I live in an area with intense agriculture and it is known that some pesticides are designed to attach to receptors in the insect's brain, poisoning them very slowly. I don't have the skill or evidence to suggest that this is what happened, it's just something on my mind.

This looks to be the male of the species. Both shots are side views at 2.5 and 5 x macro, respectively, lit by a single flash with a big diffuser.