The Transformer
~A newly-emerged adult dragonfly~
On the stem above the dragonfly, you can see a frontal view of the exoskeleton (exuvia) left behind after the emergence as an adult. I didn't realize but discovered that adult dragonflies live only about 2 months but their life cycle can take up to 4 years to complete. From egg to nymph stage - most of those 4 years are spent living entirely underwater. Amazingly, if the nymph cycle is completed during winter months, emergence as an adult does not occur until conditions are favorable in the spring. When air temps are warm enough, the nymph crawls out of the water for the very first time and onto a water plant stem, where it sheds it's skin for the final transformation into an adult dragonfly....and for 2 months only, the hunt is on for a mate(s) and the dragonfly cycle begins once more...(Found at Zilker Botanical Gardens in Austin, TX)
Uploaded on August 03, 2011