Alien Invasion 2

yet another lovely suny day for most of today, the usual gardening tasks , mowing the grass , clearing weedsectc. Then an escape to the hills with a lovely long walk up the Leacainn.

Lunch by the pond , very well deserved after all the gardening and walking. As always i had the usual look around the pond and spotted this dragonfly nympth on a reed in the pond. There was the exuvia of another nympth still hanging on a reed close by. So the tripod was carefully placed in the pond near the reeds , tried to be really careful as I have already spotted some nympths at the swimming stage in the pond. I googled some info re the dragonfly and was quite amazed at what I found out. The stages I already knew but some of the precise detail was really interesting.

The Egg Stage
A male and a female dragonfly will mate while they are flying in the air. After two dragonflies mate, the female dragonfly will lay her eggs on a plant in the water, or if she can?t find a suitable plant she will just drop them into the water.

The Nymph Stage
Once the dragonfly eggs hatch, the life cycle of a dragonfly larva begins as a nymph. A nymph looks like a little alien creature. It hasn?t grown its wings yet and has what looks like a crusty hump hanging onto its back. Dragonfly nymphs live in the water while they grow and develop into dragonflies. This portion of the dragonfly life cycle can take up to four years to complete, and if the nymph cycle is completed in the beginning of the wintertime, it will remain in the water until spring when it is warm enough to come out.

Dragonfly nymphs live in ponds or marshy areas because the waters are calmer than in a stream or river. Sometimes they can be found in the calmer backwaters of rivers, too. Dragonfly nymphs may eat smaller dragonfly nymphs as they develop.

The Adult Dragonfly Stage
Once the nymph is fully grown, and the weather is right, it will complete the metamorphosis into a dragonfly by crawling out of the water up the stem of a plant. The nymph will shed its skin onto the stem of the plant and will then be a young dragonfly. The skin that the nymph left behind is called the exuvia and you can find the exuvia still stuck to the stem for a long time after the dragonfly has left it.

Once the dragonfly leaves the exuvia it is a full grown dragonfly. The dragonfly will hunt for food and begin to look for a mate. Once the dragonfly finds a mate, the female will find a body of calm water that will be a good place to lay her eggs, and the life cycle of the dragonfly begins all over again. Adult dragonflies only live about two months.

So there you have it. probably be my luck to miss the nympth shedding its skin as I have to go out tomorrow. Fingers crossed!!
If you are feeling brave try LARGE