#DO DRAGONFLY LARVAE LIVE IN WATER SKIN#

#DO DRAGONFLY LARVAE LIVE IN WATER SKIN#

The skin splits at a weak spot behind the head and the adult dragonfly crawls out of its old larval skin, waits for the sun to rise, pumps up its wings and flies off to feed on midges and flies. Exposure to air causes the larvae to begin breathing. When the larva is ready to metamorphose into an adult, it climbs up a reed or other emergent plant at night. The life span ranges from about 6 months to over 7 years (most of it is spent in the nymph stage – the adult lives for only a few weeks). Most of a dragonflys life is spent in the larval stage beneath the waters surface, using internal gills to breathe and using extendable jaws to catch other invertebrates or even vertebrates such as tadpoles and fish. Nymphs of some species may take as long as three years to mature. As they grow, they molt (shed their skin). They have tiny wings and a large lower lip, which they use to catch their prey (often mosquito larvae).ĭragonfly nymphs live in the water. The nymphs are not as attractive as the adults. After about two weeks, the eggs hatch and an immature dragonfly, or nymph, emerges. When laying eggs, some species will submerge themselves completely in order to lay their eggs on a suitable surface. Female dragonflies lay eggs in or near water, often on floating or emergent plants. Dragonfly ReproductionĪ dragonfly undergoes incomplete metamorphosis. Dragonfly Habitatsĭragonflies are usually found around water such as lakes, ponds, streams and wetlands because their larvae, known as ‘nymphs’, are aquatic. They have large optic brain lobes and 80% of their mental processes are devoted to vision and they can detect color, ultraviolet light and polarization. Together, these smaller eyes enable a dragonfly to detect even the slightest movement. Each of their two large eyes is made up of thousands of six-sided units. A Dragonflies ability to manoeuvre in many directions makes them able to out-fly their prey.ĭragonflies also have the advantage of excellent eyesight. Dragonflies typically eat mosquitoes, midges and other small insects like flies, bees and butterflies, catching its prey while it is flying. Dragonfly Diet and VisionĪll dragonflies are carnivorous in both the larval and adult stages of their lives. Traveling at almost 30 miles per hour, dragonflies are the fastest insects in the UK. Their wing beat is around 50 – 90 beats per second.ĭragonflies have complicated neck muscles which allow them to tilt their head sideways 180 degrees, back 70 degrees and down 40 degrees.ĭragonflies can hover in mid air and then rapidly accelerate. They can beat each pair of wings together or separately and their rear wings can be out of phase with the front wings. Some are red like the Comet Darner and yellow like the Emerald Darner.ĭragonflies breath through spiracles which are tiny holes located on their abdomen. Their bodies are long and slender and they have a short antennae.ĭragonflies are very colorful, for example the Green Darner Dargonfly has a green thorax and a blue segmented abdomen. Dragonflies have long, delicate, membranous wings which are transparent and some have light yellow coloring near the tips. The Dragonfly name comes from their fierce jaws, which they use to catch their prey.Ī Dragonfly has two large compound eyes which take up most of its head.

However, being in the same order makes their life cycles quite similar. The eyes on a damselfly are separated, in most dragonflies the eyes touch. Dragonflies are sometimes confused with Damselflies.Įven though they are both members of the same order, they have slight differences whereby when resting, damselflies hold their wings together, a dragonfly holds its wings horizontally or slightly down and forward and their hindwings are broader near the base. The main difference between them is that flies only have two wings whereas dragonflies have four wings.

Dragonflies are are not actually a fly even though they both have six legs and three body parts, head, thorax and abdomen. A dragonfly is an insect belonging to the order ‘Odonata’.

Do dragonfly larvae live in water