This is the basic anatomy of a dragonfly

1. The life cycle begins with a yellowish egg laid on a solid object in rivers, waterways or even plants. 2. Once the eggs hatch, the life cycle of a dragonfly/damselfly begins as a nymph. 3. When the nymph is fully grown, it becomes restless, it dies down on feeding and soon, it will select a suitable plant stem and crawl out of the water, settling down well clear of the surface. Eventually, the skin splits along the back and the adult insect struggles out, usually at night or very early mornings. Soon the wings begin to expand, once dried, the adult is ready for flight. Full coloration usually does not take place until a few days has gone by. Adult dragonflies can be found from April until November, with the life span of an individual lasting no more than a few weeks. 4. Adult Odonata are exclusively insectivorous (they eat insects), catching their prey on the wing, and will seize anything small enough for them to tackle. 5. Then mating takes place and the life cycle begins all over again. The life cycle of a dragonfly /damselfly is fairly interesting because of how different they are to humans. But sadly, the only difference is that adult Odonata can only get to live for approximately 2 months.

Dragonflies and damselflies are found all over Australia. Males tend to be territorial staying close by water to guard their hunting and mating grounds. They can often be observed perched on a favourite plants, usually a branch or rock away from the water. When guarding their territory they will often fly rapidly after intruders chasing them away before returning to the same perch. Females on the other hand tend to roam further from water in search of prey. The nymphs (baby dragonflies) are aquatic, although one species is known to inhabit wet leaf litter in northern Queensland. The nymphs of dragonflies and damselflies can be found in many aquatic habitats including either sluggish or fast running freshwater creeks, rivers, stream and lakes, and some species inhabit the more saline (liquid containing salt) habitats of inland waters.nymphs

Dragonflies and damselflies are all over Australia, some appear to be in China and others are in Canada, Alaska and the U.S.A

A dragonfly eats smaller bugs, and gets eaten by frogs, other dragonflies, and other, bigger creatures. The dragonfly is very important, just like every other animal in the food chain. Dragonflies predators are grasshoppers, birds, dogs, spiders, lizards and other a dragonfly a dragonfly a dragonfly a d dragonflies etc (basically any other insect or animal that is larger than the dragonfly itself).

These are a few of dragonflies/ damselflies local species. Emerald Damselfly, Beautiful Demoiselle, Large Red Damselfly, Blue – tailed Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly, Azure Damselfly, Golden Ringed Dragonfly, Brown Hawker, Emperor Dragonfly Southern Hawker, Common Hawker, Broad Bodied Chaser, Four Spotted Chaser, Black Darter Common Darter, Banded Demoiselle, Small Red Damselfly, Scarce blue- tailed damselfly, Hairy Dragonfly Club-tailed dragonfly, Black tailed skimmer, Keeled Skimmer, Ruddy Darter.

One of the benefits of having dragonflies is that they eat many mosquitoes each and every day. Dragonflies also eat other kinds of insects like : flies, midgets and Honeybees which occasionally are irritating insects. Using a basket-like arrangement of their legs, adult dragonflies can actually catch and eat other bugs while they are flying. They are not harmful to us at all because they do not attack or bite us in any way.

These are some dragonfly damselfly names..Azure Blue Damselfly. Azure Damselfly. Downy Emerald. Banded Demoiselle. Emerald Damselfly. Beautiful Demoiselle. Emperor Dragonfly. Black Darter. Four Spotted Chaser. Black Tailed Skimmer. Blue Tailed Damselfly. Broad Bodied Chaser. Brown Hawker. Club-tailed Dragonfly. Common Blue Damselfly. Common Darter. Common Hawker

Dragonflies are adaptive insects, they are born in water and are in air after maturity. A dragonfly represents monsoon and rain, it is also a symbol of subconscious or dreaming mind and thoughts. A dragonfly lives a very short life and it tries to live to the fullest with what it has. I think this is a great lesson for all of us. We should try to enjoy every moment of life with what we have.