Dragonfly By: Logan Miller

Intro This power point will tell you all you need to know about the life cycle of the Dragon Fly. The stages are the egg, the larva, the nymph, and then the adult.

Egg The dragonfly egg is directly placed in aquatic plants or dropped in the water. If they are laid beside the water they will not hatch in the sun but only when it rains. The eggs look like little white rocks.

Larva The larva also lives in the water. It resembles the adult except it is much smaller, doesn't have wings, and has a wider and shorter abdomen. As the larva grows it molts, (sheds its skin), quite a few times. The dragonfly usually spends a long time in the water as a larva, eating and growing.

Nymph The Nymph has six legs which are all located near their head. They can be mm in length. Dragonfly Nymphs live on plants, among stones, or at the bottom of ponds or slow-flowing rivers. Dragonfly Nymphs are predators and feed mostly on other insects in the water. Sometimes, they can be cannibals and eat each other.

Nymph Some of the larger species have been known to feed on small fish and tadpoles. They catch their food with their bottom lip that is usually covered with teeth and folded under their head. When a small insect comes near the nymph, it will shoot out its bottom lip to grab it, faster than most prey can react. The lip is then pulled back to the hungry nymph’s mouth and eating begins.

Adult After leaving the water the dragonfly finds a place to stand and starts to pump liquid into its wings to stretch them out. It then lets the sun dry them out. Once its wings are dry the dragonfly starts to fly and explore the area. The adult dragonfly can grow up to 12.7 cm in length. Adults eat mosquitoes (THANK THE LORD).

Interesting Facts The life span of a dragonfly can be from 2 months to around 7 years. Most of this time is spent in the nymph stage with the adult stage only living for a few weeks. The adult breathes through small holes in its abdomen called spiracles. It is able to hover and catches other insects for food as it flies around.

Thanks for Watching! I hope you learned something from my slide show!