| 1. There
are many different kinds of dragonflies. The Common Darter dragonflies (right) are mating.
The red coloured male clasps the female by the neck. She places the tip of her body
against the male and her eggs are fertilised. |
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2. After mating the female dragonfly lays her many eggs. Most
dragonflies lay their eggs in water or mud. |
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3. The larvae which hatch out from the eggs live in water. This may be for
as long as 4 or 5 years. They go through a series of stages. Each stage is larger than the
last. |
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| The Southern
Hawker dragonfly larva (right) has crawled up a plant stem. The head and body can just be
seen starting to emerge from the old larval skeleton. NEXT |
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4. When it is fully developed, the
dragonfly larva crawls out of the water and up something like a nearby plant stem. Unlike
insects such as butterflies, they do not have the resting stage known as pupation. There
is no chrysalis. |
