Casteporziano, Roma, January 17,2000,1 watched a male Sympetrum sp. flying over a pond and the bush adjacent to it. Even though in one instance it perched on my hand, I was not able to catch and/ or identify it at the specific level. Bosco di Foglino, Nettuno, Roma, January 25, 2001,1 recorded some 3-5 Sympetrum flying over a flooded meadow. At about 12:30, one male took a female in tandem and raised its abdomen several times, as if doing attempts to copulate. Since the female did not respond, the pair perched on the grass of the bank, so I could approach them and quickly catch them by hand and put them into a paper envelope. The pair did not appear to be in good condition, since both individuals had the tips and the rear wing margins considerably damaged and the female also showed very small and numerous mud droplets all over the body and wings, as if she had survived a rainy period perching on low perches near a muddy ground; also, the body coloration of both dragonflies was dull and opaque. They made the impression of representing very old insects of the 2000 generation rather than precociously emerged and matured individuals of the 2001 generation. On the subsequent day, upon examining the pair under stereo microscope, I identified them as S. striolatum, and 1 have noticed several eggs still attached to the lamina vulvaris of the female and some more eggs in the envelope, meaning that the male had probably caught the female while she was ovipositing.