Dragonflies are hemimetabolous insects; they do not have a pupal stage and undergo an incomplete metamorphosis with a series of nymphal stages from which the adult emerges. Eggs laid inside plant tissues are usually shaped like grains of rice, while other eggs are the size of a pinhead, ellipsoidal, or nearly spherical. A clutch may have as many as 1500 eggs, and they take about a week to hatch into aquatic nymphs or naiads which moult between six and 15 times (depending on species) as they grow. Most of a dragonfly's life is spent as a nymph, beneath the water's surface.
Life cycle
Dragonfly
Dragonfly | Life cycle
Dragonflies are hemimetabolous insects; they do not have a pupal stage and undergo an incomplete metamorphosis with a series of nymphal stages from which the adult emerges. A series of nymphal stage They do not have a pupal stage and undergo an incomplete metamorphosis with a series of nymphal stages from which the adult emerges. The larval stage of dragonflies lasts up to five years in large species, and between two months and three years in smaller species
what are the life stages of a dragonfly
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Dragonflies are hemimetabolous insects; they do not have a pupal stage and undergo an incomplete metamorphosis with a series of nymphal stages from which the adult emerges. Eggs laid inside plant tissues are usually shaped like grains of rice, while other eggs are the size of a pinhead, ellipsoidal, or nearly spherical. A clutch may have as many as 1500 eggs, and they take about a week to hatch into aquatic nymphs or naiads which moult between six and 15 times (depending on species) as they grow. Most of a dragonfly's life is spent as a nymph, beneath the water's surface.
Dragonfly | Life cycle
The nymph extends its hinged labium (a toothed mouthpart similar to a lower mandible, which is sometimes termed as a "mask" as it is normally folded and held before the face) that can extend forward and retract rapidly to capture prey such as mosquito larvae, tadpoles, and small fish. They breathe through gills in their rectum, and can rapidly propel themselves by suddenly expelling water through the anus. Some naiads, such as the later stages of "Antipodophlebia asthenes", hunt on land. The larval stage of dragonflies lasts up to five years in large species, and between two months and three years in smaller species.
Dragonfly | Life cycle
Several years of their lives are spent as nymphs living in fresh water; the adult stage of some dragonflies may be as long as ten weeks, but most species have an adult lifespan on the order of five weeks or less, and some last only a few days. They are fast, agile fliers, sometimes migrating across oceans, and often live near water. They have a uniquely complex mode of reproduction involving indirect insemination, delayed fertilization, and sperm competition. During mating, the male grasps the female at the back of the head, and the female curls her abdomen under her body to pick up sperm from the male's secondary genitalia at the front of his abdomen, forming the "heart" or "wheel" posture.
Dragonfly | Introduction
They may be seen on the wing for several months, but this may represent a whole series of individuals, with new adults hatching out as earlier ones complete their lifespans.
Dragonfly | Life cycle
They are more sensitive than dragonfly nymphs to oxygen levels and suspended fine particulate matter, and do not bury themselves in the mud. The nymphs proceed through about a dozen moults as they grow. In the later stages, the wing pads become visible. When fully developed, the nymphs climb out of the water and take up a firm stance, the skin on the thorax splits and the adult form wriggles out. This has a soft body at first and hangs or stands on its empty larval case. It pumps haemolymph into its small limp wings, which expand to their full extent.
Damselfly | Life cycle
The hairy dragonfly's flight period is short and early, beginning in mid-May and ending in mid-July. Dead vegetation and living stems growing in the water, close to the water's edge, provide a home for the eggs. Two years later, larvae emerge by scaling plant stems just above the surface of the water or possibly crawling inland for about a meter where they have room to spread their wings.
Hairy dragonfly | Life stages
When the naiad is ready to metamorphose into an adult, it stops feeding and makes its way to the surface, generally at night. It remains stationary with its head out of the water, while its respiration system adapts to breathing air, then climbs up a reed or other emergent plant, and moults (ecdysis). Anchoring itself firmly in a vertical position with its claws, its skin begins to split at a weak spot behind the head. The adult dragonfly crawls out of its larval skin, the exuvia, arching backwards when all but the tip of its abdomen is free, to allow its exoskeleton to harden.
Dragonfly | Life cycle
Curling back upwards, it completes its emergence, swallowing air, which plumps out its body, and pumping haemolymph into its wings, which causes them to expand to their full extent. Dragonflies in temperate areas can be categorized into two groups, an early group and a later one. In any one area, individuals of a particular "spring species" emerge within a few days of each other. The springtime darner ("Basiaeschna janata"), for example, is suddenly very common in the spring, but disappears a few weeks later and is not seen again until the following year. By contrast, a "summer species" emerges over a period of weeks or months, later in the year.
Dragonfly | Life cycle
Dragonflies, including Plathemis lydia, spend most of their life cycle as aquatic larvae or nymphs, during which there is up to a 99.9% mortality rate. The two most common sources of mortality during the aquatic stage of life are predation and desiccation. Plathemis lydia then enter the adult stage of life, which only lasts a few weeks. During the adult stage of life, Plathemis lydia mate and select suitable sites to deposit their eggs.
Common whitetail | Life cycle
Adults of these dragonflies can be found from mid April through late August. Their life cycle lasts about three years.
Onychogomphus uncatus | Biology
A pupal stage between larval and adult stage does not occur within the "P. smithii" species. Furthermore, Deacon (1979) concludes that it takes four years for "Procordulia smithii" to complete their life cycle. Rowe (1987) reports that "P. smithii" taxa lay their eggs in shallow, still water. Rowe (1987) notes that lack of study has led to a lower understanding of the maturation period of all dragonfly species. It is suggested that further study is needed in this area by means of marking taxa and recapturing them upon arrival in water habitats after maturing period. "P. smithii" at the larval stage are restricted to freshwater and brackish waters.
Procordulia smithii | Life cycle/phenology
Eggs hatch within a month of being laid. Nymphs can live for three to five years, moulting as many as ten times and growing as large as five centimeters in length. Like adult dragonfly, nymphs are obviously predatory insects. Once nymphs' size bigger and bigger, they hunt tadpoles, aquatic insects and small fish. The adult dragonfly mate and lay eggs within one to two months of metamorphosis. After mating, females head toward small creeks or ponds, not fast-moving rivers or lakes, to lay eggs. They will sometimes fly perpendicularly to the water, laying their eggs in mud or sand under the surface.
Anotogaster sieboldii | Life cycle
Individuals of this species typically take 1-3 years to reach adulthood. The adults breed in acidic pools where sphagnum moss is present. The male holds a small territory near a body of water, and copulation with the female often begins over the water before they settle on the ground for about 30 minutes. The female drops the eggs amongst submerged moss or stems of cottongrass that grow along the edge of the water. Adult dragonflies emerge between May and early July in Great Britain; the exact timing depends on the latitude and weather. When the larvae have developed sufficiently and are ready to emerge as adults, they climb out of the water up a plant stem and shed their exoskeleton one final time.
White-faced darter | Reproductive stage
The adult then sheds this dead skin and emerges into the wild. Nymphs typically emerge into the wild during June and July. Male and female nymphs appear to progress into the adult stage in equal proportions. The following 4-6 week long adult stage consists of three sub-stages. These stages are the pre-reproductive stage, reproductive stage, and post-reproductive stage. Adults spend these stages hunting for prey, establishing territories, and reproducing. Overall, Hine’s emerald dragonflies live for 2–4 years.
Hine's emerald | Life history
The female lays the eggs in shallow water. The hairy larvae live at the bottom of the water and are well camouflaged amongst the silt. They emerge after about 2–5 years, and usually under the cover of darkness.
Golden-ringed dragonfly | Larvae
The metamorphosis from larva to adult in dobsonflies is one of the simplest of the holometabolous orders, yet the life cycle begins with an intriguing ritualized courtship display (most of the following comes from Simonsen et al. 2008 and all pertains to Corydalus; other courtship rituals remain unknown). Males compete with each other for females, aggressively fluttering the wings and trying to place their long mandibles underneath the body of the opponent in order to flip him into the air. Afterwards, the male approaches a female from the side and touches her with his antennae. At first the female reacts somewhat aggressively, moving the head from side to side with mandibles wide apart.
Dobsonfly | Life cycle
Like other dragonflies, both larvae and adults feed on smaller insects and other invertebrates. Adults are active in the day from June to October, and the species overwinters as a larvae.
Somatochlora incurvata | Life History
Like other species in the order of Lepidoptera, the question mark is an insect that undergoes four life stages, also known as holometabolis or complete metamorphosis. These four life stages are embryo (ova or egg), larva (in this case, caterpillar), pupa (chrysalis), and imago, (or adult/ butterfly).
Polygonia interrogationis | Lifecycle
"G. flavipes", as all dragonflies, are predators; they capture smaller insect in flight. Imagos are rarely seen, the easiest way to observe them is in the mating period or during the emergence of young adults. Mating usually takes place in June or July. During the day adult males search for females, far from the riverbank, in low altitude above the waterfront. If they successfully catch a female copulation takes place in the shelter of water edge willows. After fertilization females fly 20–30 cm above the water and lay eggs (one at a time or in a small packets) into the water.
Gomphus flavipes | Behaviour and life cycle
They have three pairs of true legs, but no prolegs. However, they do possess an adhesive organ on the abdomen, which they can use to fasten themselves to vertical surfaces. There is no set number of instars the larvae will go through, some species can have as many as ten or eleven. The larval stage usually lasts for two to three years, but in some species can extend for six years. The final larval instar, the prepupal stage, creates a cell in which the insect pupates. The pupa is fully capable of movement, and often leaves its cell for another location before the adult emerges.
Snakefly | Life cycle
Diptera go through a complete metamorphosis with four distinct life stages – egg, larva, pupa and adult.
Fly | Life cycle and development
The haemolymph is then pumped back into the abdomen, which also expands fully. The exoskeleton hardens and the colours become more vivid over the course of the next few days. Most damselflies emerge in daytime and in cool conditions the process takes several hours. On a hot day, the cuticle hardens rapidly and the adult can be flying away within half an hour.
Damselfly | Life cycle
The flight period extends from April to mid October, but this dragonfly is more common in late summer. Adults feed on soft-bodied flying insects. After mating females usually fly in tandem with males during oviposition, performed in flight by dipping the tip of the abdomen into the water. Larvae live in aquatic vegetation. They feed on many different aquatic insects (mosquito larvae, mayfly larvae, other fly larvae, small fish and tadpoles).
Band-winged meadowhawk | Biology and behavior
The eggs and larvae develop within a few months and "S. fonscolombii" unlike most other European dragonflies has more than one generation a year. Some larvae overwinter.
Red-veined darter | Biology and behaviour
The lifecycle of this species begins in freshwater, they spend most of their time as larvae. The larval stage depends on the temperature, light, and the resource level. Once the temperatures drop the larvae can go into a state called diapause instead of dying. The damselflies that endure diapause effect the body size for the next season. Since these damselflies are flexible, they have two different lifecycles depending on latitude univoltine or semivoltine. The more north these damselflies are found, the more likely they are to be semivoltine. By being able to shift the lifecycle due to the conditions this allows for twice the amount of development time, so larger adults are typically found in more northern areas.
Enallagma cyathigerum | Lifecycles
Adult dragonflies from the genus "Petalura" are commonly known as 'petaltails' because of the male's anal appendages, which can vary in color. Adults of this species live near streams and rivers, and are semiaquatic, living quite like their larvae. They are also nocturnal predators, although they tend to feed off of larger larvae, ones with extended phases, and larger sized bugs than that of what their larvae eat. Adults mate on vegetation, then the females lay their egg larvae in old plant matter. Adults live for 4–6 months. Species of the genus "Petalura" tend to be univoltine while many other species may take a few years to complete their life cycles.
Petalura hesperia | Adults
Once in their adult stage, they tend to live only 2 to 3 weeks, which they spend mainly in reproducing.
Alderfly | Life cycle
Like all other species of dragonfly, the larvae of this species grow by moulting (in which the exoskeleton is shed) several times during development. In the early stages of development, larvae preferentially inhabit sphagnum moss, which may provide a reliable source of food because the moss can trap organic matter that would otherwise sink to the bottom of the water. As well as fish, many waterfowl, amphibians, and other invertebrates will prey upon dragonfly larvae, so the mats likely also provide a safe hiding place from predators. The larvae are able to change colour depending on whether the moss they are inhabiting is brown or green, which would help to visually disguise them from predators.
White-faced darter | Larval stage
Another study done in South Korea suggested that is about the temperature in which no eggs are hatched, while still had limited hatching, depending upon how long they were chilled and where they were kept.
Spotted lanternfly | Life cycle
A female must mate with the territory holder before laying her eggs. There is also conflict between the males and females. Females may sometimes be harassed by males to the extent that it affects their normal activities including foraging and in some dimorphic species females have evolved multiple forms with some forms appearing deceptively like males. In some species females have evolved behavioural responses such as feigning death to escape the attention of males. Similarly, selection of habitat by adult dragonflies is not random, and terrestrial habitat patches may be held for up to 3 months. A species tightly linked to its birth site utilises a foraging area that is several orders of magnitude larger than the birth site.
Dragonfly | Behaviour
The first adults of dragonflies emerge, depending on the weather, at the end of April to the end of September. The main hatching time lies in the days of late May to late June. The emergence, i.e. the transformation of the larvae to adults and the associated leaving the water, is not synchronous and lasts throughout the season until about mid-July. The newly hatched dragonflies spend after leaving the larval shell ( exuvia ) is the first time until full coloration in the vegetation surrounding the water body. This aging period usually lasts about 10 days, after which they return to the waters.
Beautiful demoiselle | Hatching
The thorax bears two pairs of wings and three pairs of legs. The wings are long, veined, and membranous, narrower at the tip and wider at the base. The hindwings are broader than the forewings and the venation is different at the base. The veins carry haemolymph, which is analogous to blood in vertebrates and carries out many similar functions, but which also serves a hydraulic function to expand the body between nymphal stages (instars) and to expand and stiffen the wings after the adult emerges from the final nymphal stage. The leading edge of each wing has a node where other veins join the marginal vein, and the wing is able to flex at this point.
Dragonfly | General description
Females are capable of mating less than 24 hours after emergence and most frequently lay their eggs on the undersides of leaves. Eggs are pale yellow in colour, before turning grey prior to hatching. Newly hatched larvae, often known as crawlers, are the only mobile immature life-stage. During the first and second larval instars, the appearance is that of a pale yellow/translucent, flat scale which can be difficult to distinguish with the naked eye. During the fourth and final immature life-stage referred to as the "pupa", compound eyes and other body tissues become visible as the larvae thicken and rise from the leaf-surface.
Greenhouse whitefly | Life cycle
However, she then allows the male to come closer and place his mandibles over her wings in a perpendicular position, a position he holds until the female signals reception to mating. At least in "Protohermes", during copulation the male attaches to the female's genitalia a large, globular spermatophore about 4 mm long and wide. The spermatophore consists of two parts: a large gelatinous mass, and a smaller seminal duct containing the sperm. After copulation, the female proceeds to spread her legs wide apart, curl the abdomen under the chest, and eat the gelatinous part of the spermatophore. Oviposition occurs along rocky walls of streams at night, from May to September in "Corydalus".
Dobsonfly | Life cycle
When you are at Weed Lake during the summer months, you might be able to find a few dragonflies. Dragonflies are some times can be blue or green or brown with clear wings. Dragonflies live off mosquitoes and flies. Dragonflies can be 1.9–13 cm. They are usually found near fresh water. This insect can live up to 3 weeks or 6 month if the weather is dry and it is warm. Its life cycle includes the stages; eggs, nymph and adult. Dragonflies lived 300 million years ago. Grown dragonflies are master fliers.
Weed Lake Wetland | Dragonflies
Mating in dragonflies is a complex, precisely choreographed process. First, the male has to attract a female to his territory, continually driving off rival males. When he is ready to mate, he transfers a packet of sperm from his primary genital opening on segment 9, near the end of his abdomen, to his secondary genitalia on segments 2–3, near the base of his abdomen. The male then grasps the female by the head with the claspers at the end of his abdomen; the structure of the claspers varies between species, and may help to prevent interspecific mating. The pair flies in tandem with the male in front, typically perching on a twig or plant stem.
Dragonfly | Reproduction
Like all other hymenopteran insects, sawflies go through a complete metamorphosis with four distinct life stages – egg, larva, pupa and adult. Many species are parthenogenetic, meaning that females do not need fertilization to create viable eggs. Unfertilized eggs develop as male, while fertilized eggs develop into females (arrhenotoky). The lifespan of an individual sawfly is two months to two years, though the adult life stage is often very short (approximately 7 – 9 days), only long enough for the females to lay their eggs. The female uses its ovipositor to drill into plant material to lay her eggs (though the family Orussoidea lay their eggs in other insects).
Sawfly | Life cycle and reproduction
Since fish are less likely to occur in relatively smaller bodies of water, since these are at greater risk of becoming oxygen deficient during the winter, it has been suggested that adult dragonflies may choose where to lay their eggs by judging the size of a lake. The larvae have, however, been shown to exhibit phenotypic plasticity in the presence of predators, which means that larvae in danger of predation are able to grow longer dorsal and lateral spines as a defence mechanism.
White-faced darter | Larval stage
In other families such as clubtails (Gomphidae), cruisers (Macromiidae), emeralds (Corduliidae), and skimmers (Libellulidae), the female lays eggs by tapping the surface of the water repeatedly with her abdomen, by shaking the eggs out of her abdomen as she flies along, or by placing the eggs on vegetation. In a few species, the eggs are laid on emergent plants above the water, and development is delayed until these have withered and become immersed.
Dragonfly | Reproduction
Dobsonfly eggs are usually laid close to the water's edge on a rock or overhanging foliage and hatch at night one to two weeks later. The newly emerged larvae fall or crawl into the stream and make their way to a fast-flowing section with a stony bottom. They are called hellgrammites and they hide under stones, catching and eating soft-bodied invertebrates. They grow slowly, shedding their skins ten to twelve times and reaching a length of up to ninety millimeters. The larger hellgrammites are fearsome predators with well-developed jaws. After one to three years and when ready to pupate, they emerge from the water and travel up to fifteen metres looking for a suitable location under a rock, log or leaf litter.
Corydalus cornutus | Life cycle
This dragonfly is 24 to 34 millimeters long, with a hindwing 25 to 30 millimeters long. It can be identified by the brown spots at the bases and tips of the wings. The pterostigma is yellow in younger individuals, and red in older. The face is yellow, turning red in older male specimens. The thorax is yellow-brown with a large dark stripe and several smaller brown stripes. The abdomen is dark with paler markings.
Celithemis elisa | Description
The larvae molt from one stadia to the next until growth is complete; in dragonflies the larval stages are the only stages where growth occurs. The number of stadia is not fixed and in good conditions the last larval stage, called F-0 can be reached in as little as 8 weeks.
Lestes sponsa | Behaviour
Damselflies are hemimetabolous insects that have no pupal stage in their development. The female inserts the eggs by means of her ovipositor into slits made in water plants or other underwater substrates and the larvae, known as naiads or nymphs, are almost all completely aquatic. Exceptions include the Hawaiian "Mealagrion oahuense" and an unidentified Megapodagrionid from New Caledonia, which are terrestrial in their early stages. The spreadwings lay eggs above the waterline late in the year and the eggs overwinter, often covered by snow. In spring they hatch out in the meltwater pools and the nymphs complete their development before these temporary pools dry up.
Damselfly | Life cycle
The life cycle usually takes one or two years, but sometimes the developing nymphal forms may last for up to three years. Nymphs can reach about of length. They dig tunnels into the gravel in the beds of rivers and feed by filtering organic detritus. They emerge in Spring and move towards shallow waters. The adults mainly can be found in May–June (hence the common name of mayfly), at the end of many larval stages. However adults may be often present between April and November. The lifetime of adults is very short (around four days at the most), hence its genus name (Ephemera).
Ephemera danica | Life cycle
The stages of its life cycle are as follows: egg: MaySeptember, larva: JuneSeptember, pupa: JulyMay, and imago: MayJuly. It flies by day, normally taking only short, rapid flights, and can be found in wasteland and other open habitats. It hibernates as a pupa, and does so in a cocoon among blades of grass, or right underneath the ground.
Callistege mi | Biology
If the nymph is eaten by a frog, the amphibian becomes infected by the adult or fluke stage of the trematode.
Dragonfly | Predators and parasites
In North America, this species has a typical dragonfly life-history. However, the population on the Azores reproduces by parthenogenesis, making it the only population of Odonata anywhere in the world known to reproduce by this means. In the southern United States, adults are on the wing year-round, while farther north the flight season is from April to November, and in the Azores from May to August.
Citrine forktail | Life history
The female mates once and stores all the sperm she needs for fertilization. If she should mate again, the second male will remove the sperm of the first male from her body with the brush-like apparatus on his specially-adapted penis. The larvae of the dragonflies hatch and eat anything they can catch, favoring a carnivorous diet of organisms smaller than themselves. Adults of the species, especially males, congregate in swarms. Some populations of this dragonfly undertake migrations. Both the larvae and adult forms are efficient predators of mosquitoes, so they are a helpful insect to have in wet areas where mosquito infestations occur.
Black saddlebags | Introduction
A large dragonfly (length 61–64 mm; wingspan 87–91 mm). The eyes are green and the face deep yellow to greenish yellow; the upper frons has a central black spot within a yellow ring. The thorax is brown with green stripes, and the abdomen green with brown markings. The wings are slightly smoky with brown and yellow veins and reddish-brown to yellow-brown pterostigmata.
Pinheyschna subpupillata | Description
"Romalea microptera" goes through several stages, like all insects. When in the nymph stage, it is smaller than in the adult stage, wingless and completely black with one or more yellow, orange or red stripes. In the adult stage, they reach , grow wings half the length of their body and become either a dull yellow often characterized by black spots and markings, a bright orange with black markings, or entirely black (as in the nymph stage) with yellow or red striping. In the black adult color phase, the grasshopper is widely known by the name "diablo" or "black diablo".
Romalea | Life cycle
Dragonflies and damselflies are predatory both in the aquatic nymphal and adult stages. Nymphs feed on a range of freshwater invertebrates and larger ones can prey on tadpoles and small fish. Adults capture insect prey in the air, making use of their acute vision and highly controlled flight. The mating system of dragonflies is complex and they are among the few insect groups that have a system of indirect sperm transfer along with sperm storage, delayed fertilization, and sperm competition. Adult males vigorously defend territories near water; these areas provide suitable habitat for the larvae to develop, and for females to lay their eggs.
Dragonfly | Ecology
When they first emerge, both sexes appear pale green with brown markings. The legs are brown with a yellow like base. Wings are born black but grow yellow-brown with age. Males have a sky blue abdomen marked with a diagnostic black dorsal stripe and an apple green thorax. The thorax and head of a male is green and their prominent eyes are blue. Females have similar markings but they are mainly green.
Emperor (dragonfly) | Identification
The nymphs are voracious predators and feed by means of a flat labium (a toothed mouthpart on the lower jaw) that forms the so-called mask; it is rapidly extended to seize and pierce the "Daphnia" (water fleas), mosquito larvae, and other small aquatic organisms on which damselfly nymphs feed. They breathe by means of three large external, fin-like gills on the tip of the abdomen, and these may also serve for locomotion in the same manner as a fish's tail. Compared to dragonfly larvae, the nymphs show little variation in form. They tend to be slender and elongate, many having morphological adaptations for holding their position in fast flowing water.
Damselfly | Life cycle
Snakeflies are holometabolous insects, having a four-stage life cycle with eggs, larvae, pupae and adults. Before mating, the adults engage in an elaborate courtship ritual, including a grooming behaviour involving legs and antennae. In raphidiids, mating takes place in a "dragging position", while in inocelliids, the male adopts a tandem position under the female; copulation may last for up to three hours in some inoceliid species. The eggs are oviposited into suitable locations and hatch in from a few days to about three weeks. The larvae have large heads with projecting mandibles. The head and the first segment of the thorax are sclerotised, but the rest of the body is soft and fleshy.
Snakefly | Life cycle
At about 2.5 mm they moult and during this stage develop a pale stripe along the body just above the legs. The setae start to develop spikes, usually two or more at this stage. At about 5 mm long they moult again and the pale longitudinal lines become more obvious. At about 10 mm they moult once more, and the setae develop more spikes. The last moult is at about 22 mm, from where caterpillars grow to about 36 mm before pupating into a roughly 20–mm pupa.
New Zealand red admiral | Life cycle
Within the egg takes place, the embryonic development of the dragonfly. For the first time this has been described for the blue-winged demoiselle 1869, but it represented the first description of the embryonic development of an insect at all. From outside the progression of the development by a slight change in length as well as by changing the shape is recognizable. It bulges on the upper part of the egg slightly, while the lower part deforms concave. The development itself can be divided into three sections: • the early development, when it forms after fertilization of the ovum by dividing the basic shape of body • definitely the development with the final formation of the body shape until they hatch from the egg • the larval development of the hatched larva up to the formation of the winged imago The embryo in the egg can last between 20 days and one month.
Beautiful demoiselle | Larval development and life of larvae
The larvae generally do not thrive in environments where fish predators are present, and in some case appear to be more vulnerable to predation compared to other species of dragonflies, possibly due to their active foraging behaviour. An active foraging strategy means the larvae purposely swim to different parts of their habitat in search of prey, as opposed to a passive “sit and wait” strategy exhibited by some other species of dragonfly. They rely primarily upon visual cues to locate prey, and will consume anything that isn’t too large or powerful for them to handle. They are therefore more likely to occur in areas of water where fish are absent.
White-faced darter | Larval stage
(2006).
List of dragonflies of Menorca | Introduction
The life cycle begins with the mating of the male and female species of the fly and upon completion, the female begins oviposition and will lay the eggs on a place of interest such as an open wound, an orifice, or a pile of faeces. Once the eggs have been laid they will take approximately one full day to hatch, which is a short time period among flies. Upon hatching, the larvae will begin the three stages of larvae development consistent with this family. The first stage occurs approximately after 2 days, while the second stage occurs after 2 and a half days, and finally the third stage occurs at approximately 4 to 5 days.
Lucilia silvarum | Life cycle
The females cannot yet be told apart. The length of this dragonfly is from and the span of the hindwings is .
Brachythemis impartita | Description
It is a medium sized dragonfly with thorax black on dorsum, and yellow on the sides. There is a slightly oblique ante-humeral stripe and two narrow parallel black stripes on the sutures enclosing an equally narrow yellow line. Abdomen is black, marked with yellow. Segment 1 has a large spot on the dorsum and the sides. Segment 2 has a mid-dorsal spot. Segment 3 to 7 have basal rings, narrow on 3 to 6, occupying the basal half on segment 7. Segment 8 to 10 are unmarked. Anal appendages are yellow, black on the base. This species is found in banks of montane forest streams where it breeds.
Davidioides martini | Description and habitat
The caterpillar makes a leaf tent from silken threads, to which it returns after feeding on surrounding leaves. When the caterpillar is fully matured, it hangs on a twig and pupates. The pupa resembles a ripening fruit as it is first green and becomes brown as the imago develops inside. After a period that can range from two weeks to one month, the pupal case opens letting out the adult butterfly.
Charaxes jasius | Life cycle
A dragonfly is a flying insect of the order Odonata. Dragonfly or DragonFly may also refer to:
Dragonfly (disambiguation) | Introduction
Adult "L. cuprina" arrive early on carrion, appearing hours or even minutes after death. There, on the fresh body, they lay their eggs. The eggs then hatch into larvae which begin to feed and grow. After about five days, larvae enter the pupal stage. This is said to be an inactive stage, although many changes occur during this part of the flies’ life cycle. The pupa does not feed, but rather uses the time inside the casing to change from rice-like larvae into an adult fly with wings and six legs. The whole process can take anywhere from eleven to twenty-one days depending on environmental conditions including temperature and nutritional availability.
Lucilia cuprina | Stages of life
It is a large dragonfly with bottle-green eyes. Its thorax is black; marked with bright greenish-yellow stripes. Abdomen is black, marked with bright citron-yellow. Segment 1 has a small apical dorsal triangle and the whole of the sides. Segment 2 has a dorsal and a lateral stripe, broad at the base. Segment 3 has a dorsal stripe and a lateral wedge-shaped spot at the base. Segments 4 and 5 have a chain of three dorsal spots. Segment 6 has a single baso-dorsal spo. Segment 7 has more than the basal half yellow. Segments 8 and 9 have small lateral basal triangular spots.
Megalogomphus hannyngtoni | Description and habitat
The Delhi Sands flower-loving fly undergoes a complete metamorphosis (egg, larva, pupa, and adult). The life span of this animal is unknown, but the larval stage may last two years or longer, depending on availability of food, temperature, rainfall, and other environmental conditions. The adults are active in the late summer and the early stages can be found throughout the year. Except for the adults, the animal spends its entire life cycle underground. The adults emerge and become active in the early summer.
Delhi Sands flower-loving fly | Life History
As is usual in the Libellulidae family, there is no distinct courtship ritual. The females may pair many times, but usually only once a day. After mating, the migrant dragonflies fly in tandem, with the female ovipositing while the male remains connected. A clutch consists of about 500 to 2000 eggs. The eggs are spheroid in shape with the semi-major axis 0.5 mm and 0.4 mm at the smallest points. The larvae develop within 38 to 65 days, which allows this migrant dragonfly to reproduce in temporary waters or even in swimming pools. However, the larvae seem to be very sensitive to temperature.
Pantala flavescens | Reproduction and development
The forewing is usually more slender and slightly longer than the hindwing. Unlike the true dragonflies, the Odonata, they had no pterostigma, and a somewhat simpler pattern of veins in the wings. Most specimens are known from wing fragments only; with only a few as complete wings, and even fewer (of the family Meganeuridae) with body impressions. These show a globose head with large dentate mandibles, strong spiny legs, a large thorax, and long and slender dragonfly-like abdomen. Like true dragonflies, they were presumably predators. A few nymphs are also known, and show mouthparts similar to those of modern dragonfly nymphs, suggesting that they were also active aquatic predators.
Meganisoptera | Introduction
"Crocothemis erythraea" can reach a length of . These dragonflies haves a flattened and rather broad abdomen. The adult male scarlet dragonfly has a bright scarlet red, widened abdomen, with small amber patches at the bases of the hindwings. Also the veins on the leading edges of the wings are red. Females and immatures are yellow-brown and have a conspicuous pale stripe along the top of the thorax.
Scarlet dragonfly | Description
In most large species of dragonflies, the wings of females are shorter and broader than those of males. The legs are rarely used for walking, but are used to catch and hold prey, for perching, and for climbing on plants. Each has two short basal joints, two long joints, and a three-jointed foot, armed with a pair of claws. The long leg joints bear rows of spines, and in males, one row of spines on each front leg is modified to form an "eyebrush", for cleaning the surface of the compound eye.
Dragonfly | General description
The sachem butterfly undergoes fours stages of complete metamorphosis:
Atalopedes campestris | Life cycle
This dragonfly is found at shaded pools, such as those found in gallery forest.
Tetrathemis polleni | Habitat
Some overwinter as pupae while others transform into adult moths.
Declana atronivea | Life stages
It is a small dragonfly with yellow face and bluish green eyes. Its thorax and abdomen are yellow with broad black marks. Its wings are transparent, with fore-wings faintly and hind-wings broadly tinted with yellow in base. Females are similar to males. It breeds in vegetated ponds and wells. Female stabs eggs on dry twigs hanging over water. The eggs hatch out in rains and the larvae fall directly into the water below.
Tetrathemis platyptera | Description and habitat
They will then undergo three larval stages (instars), which on average will take eleven to twenty days, if the ambient temperature is eighty degrees Fahrenheit. In the fourth stage, the larvae leave the food source and will pupate. The pupal stage can last from six to twelve days. A single female fly can lay in upwards of two thousand eggs in its life.
Lucilia coeruleiviridis | Life cycle
The life cycle begins when the adult female lays her eggs. The female fly deposits eggs via her ovipositor into the fruit host. The eggs hatch 6–10 days later and then enter their second stage of development, the larval stage.
Anastrepha ludens | Egg
The imago (adult stage) has a large head, well-developed, compound eyes, legs that facilitate catching prey (largely other insects) in flight, two pairs of long, transparent wings that move independently, and an elongated abdomen. Many Odonata are relatively large insects, but wingspans range from 17 mm (some "Agriocnemis" damselflies) to 191 mm (helicopter damselfly "Megaloprepus coerulatus". The largest dragonflies have a wingspan of up to 160 mm, but they are much more massive than any damselfly.
External morphology of Odonata | Imago
It is a medium sized dragonfly with yellowish white face and blue eyes. Its thorax is yellowish green with some brown stripes. Its wings are transparent, including the base. Its abdomen is pruinosed with azure blue up to the last segments. In old adults, thorax will also get pruinosed, obscuring whole the marks. Females and young males are yellowish green. They breed in marshes and swampy areas in the plains.
Orthetrum luzonicum | Description and habitat
The female releases pheromones to attract males. The caterpillar is green, camouflaged against its host plant "Fischeria panamensis". However, when disturbed, the caterpillar hangs from the vine with his prolegs and puffs up its head and thorax. The underside of its body is brown, and it has a pair of false eyes on the thorax, making it look like a small snake. It will move back and forth and strike at predators.
Hemeroplanes ornatus | Life cycle
This is indicated by the fact that dragonflies have a different copulation organ than other insects.
Evolution of insects | Mayflies
Many dragonflies have brilliant iridescent or metallic colours produced by structural coloration, making them conspicuous in flight. An adult dragonfly's compound eyes have nearly 24,000 ommatidia each. Fossils of very large dragonfly ancestors in the Protodonata are found from 325 million years ago (Mya) in Upper Carboniferous rocks; these had wingspans up to about . There are about 3,000 extant species. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threatens dragonfly populations around the world. Dragonflies are predators, both in their aquatic larval stage, when they are known as nymphs or naiads, and as adults.
Dragonfly | Introduction
Dragonflies are affected by three major groups of parasites: water mites, gregarine protozoa, and trematode flatworms (flukes). Water mites, "Hydracarina", can kill smaller dragonfly larvae, and may also be seen on adults. Gregarines infect the gut and may cause blockage and secondary infection. Trematodes are parasites of vertebrates such as frogs, with complex life cycles often involving a period as a stage called a cercaria in a secondary host, a snail. Dragonfly nymphs may swallow cercariae, or these may tunnel through a nymph's body wall; they then enter the gut and form a cyst or metacercaria, which remains in the nymph for the whole of its development.
Dragonfly | Predators and parasites
Dragonflies (suborder Anisoptera) are heavy-bodied, strong-flying insects that hold their wings horizontally both in flight and at rest. By contrast, damselflies (suborder Zygoptera) have slender bodies and fly more weakly; most species fold their wings over the abdomen when stationary, and the eyes are well separated on the sides of the head. An adult dragonfly has three distinct segments, the head, thorax, and abdomen as in all insects. It has a chitinous exoskeleton of hard plates held together with flexible membranes. The head is large with very short antennae. It is dominated by the two compound eyes, which cover most of its surface.
Dragonfly | General description
It is a medium-sized dragonfly with brown capped eyes, greenish brown thorax and bluish abdomen. Female lacks the powder blue pruinescence. It prefers medium to slow-flowing streams in the dry zones and hot plains. Adults are common around open rocky and sandy beds of the streams.
Orthetrum taeniolatum | Description and habitat
Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) are insects with an incomplete metamorphosis (hemimetabolous). The aquatic larva or nymph hatches from an egg, and develops through eight to seventeen instars before leaving the water and emerging as the winged adult or imago.
External morphology of Odonata | Introduction
This active dragonfly mainly lives by ponds, vernal pools, and slow flowing rivers; they are most common in June and July.
Four-spotted chaser | Habitat
In this state the eggs overwinter. The eggs hatch in spring and give rise to the prolarval stage. This is a specialised short lived stage often lasting only minutes. The prolarva has no limbs and cannot feed but it can move by jumping or wriggling and if a prolarva is not in water when it hatches it will move about until water is found. Once in water the prolarva moult to the second stadia stage. The larvae are active and actively hunt prey leading to rapid larval growth. The larvae moult from one stadia to the next until growth is complete; in dragonflies the larval stages are the only stages where growth occurs.
Lestes dryas | Behaviour
In "Gonatocerus," if hosts are not found females can resorb eggs, retaining energy to live longer and increase the chance of finding a host.
Fairyfly | Life history
It is a medium-sized dragonfly with black thorax, marked with yellow. Its wings have a saffron tint, golden yellow at the bases. Abdomen is black, marked with yellow. Segment 1 has a triangular dorsal spot and a large spot on each side. Segment 2 has a mid-dorsal stripe and two spots on each side. Segments 3 to 6 have a pair of sub-dorsal basal spots. Segment 7 is with the basal half yellow with a black dorsal carina and a basal black ring. Segment 8 has a sub-basal spot on each side. Segment 9 has a similar but much smaller spot.
Acrogomphus fraseri | Description and habitat
After this, they weave a silk hammocks within the circle; this silk hammock never touches the lower cuticle. Once inside, the upper-cuticle's disc separates and descends towards the surface with the larvae attaching themselves to the hammock. Once they reach the round, the larvae work their way into a sheltered area by jerking their discs along. The majority of sawfly species produce a single generation per year, but others may only have one generation every two years. Most sawflies are also female, making males rare.
Sawfly | Life cycle and reproduction
The body is long and slender and the two pairs of long, membranous wings are prominently veined. Females have a large and sturdy ovipositor which is used to deposit eggs in some concealed location. They are holometabolous insects with a four-stage life cycle consisting of eggs, larvae, pupae and adults. In most species, the larvae develop under the bark of trees. They may take several years before they undergo metamorphosis, requiring a period of chilling before pupation takes place. Both adults and larvae are predators of soft-bodied arthropods.
Snakefly | Introduction
At the end of their third instar, the larvae crawl to a dry, cool place and transform into pupae. The pupal case is cylindrical with rounded ends, about long, and formed from the last shed larval skin. It is yellowish at first, darkening through red and brown to nearly black as it ages. Pupae complete their development in two to six days at , but may take 20 days or more at . When metamorphosis is complete, the adult housefly emerges from the pupa. To do this, it uses the ptilinum, an eversible pouch on its head, to tear open the end of the pupal case.
Housefly | Life cycle
Dragonfly wings behave highly dynamically during flight, flexing and twisting during each beat. Among the variables are wing curvature, length and speed of stroke, angle of attack, forward/back position of wing, and phase relative to the other wings.
Dragonfly | Flight
Mayflies are hemimetabolous (they have "incomplete metamorphosis"). They are unique among insects in that they moult one more time after acquiring functional wings; this last-but-one winged (alate) instar usually lives a very short time and is known as a subimago, or to fly fishermen as a dun. Mayflies at the subimago stage are a favourite food of many fish, and many fishing flies are modelled to resemble them. The subimago stage does not survive for long, rarely for more than 24 hours. In some species, it may last for just a few minutes, while the mayflies in the family Palingeniidae have sexually mature subimagos and no true adult form at all.
Mayfly | Reproduction and life cycle
The female blackfly lays batches of eggs in a spiral pattern on the undersides of leaves. The eggs are golden-brown, but darken before hatching, which happens in seven to 10 days. The nymph moults three times. The first instar is a brown, elongated oval shape, about 0.30 mm long with two transparent filaments curling back over the body. The second instar is a darker brown and has short spines on its body. It measures about 0.40 mm long. The third instar is glossy black with many stout spines and measures about 0.87 mm long by 0.74 mm wide. The larval stages last three to 9 weeks.
Aleurocanthus woglumi | Lifecycle
Due to Titan's comparably thick atmosphere and low gravity, the drogue chute phase will last for 80 minutes.
Dragonfly (spacecraft) | Entry and descent
The fly starts life as an egg, one to thirty of which are laid on the stems of its host plant, the Canada or creeping thistle ("Cirsium arvense"), during the host's growing season. After hatching, the larvae burrow into the stem and form a gall (or swelling). The larvae grow to reach 98% of their full adult body weight, and overwinter in the gall in the third larval stage (instar). They pupate in early spring for 24 to 35 days and appear reddish brown. The adult fly then chews a tunnel and escapes from the gall.
Urophora cardui | Life cycle
Males that were found to have the highest FMR had the least amount of gut contents, and in turn less fat reserves. This means that the male dragonflies are making a tradeoff between flight ability and longevity, which may affect long-term mating success. The act of copulation begins with the male clasping the neck of the female. The female then bends her abdomen forward into the secondary genitalia of the male, which is located on the second abdominal segment. Once the female has moved into this position (known as the "wheel position"), the male is able to remove the sperm of any prior mates, and transfer his own sperm to the female.
Common whitetail | Mating
New Zealand blowflies have a relatively short life cycle essentially the female deposits her eggs in a medium, with "C. quadrimaculata"the medium doesn't have to be a decaying carcass it can be decaying leaf matter. After 24 hours the eggs hatch into larvae; there are three growth stages of larval development and during this period the larvae feed on either plant or animal tissues. After a period of eight days the larva stops feeding and leaves the area to develop into a pupa; this can be done under where larvae were feeding or a close distance away approximately 3 cm below in soil where conditions are dry.
Calliphora quadrimaculata | Life cycle and phenology
The larval lifestage has a variable duration, generally 20 to 30 days, and the larva must rely on stored resources during this time. The importance of the richness of blood to this development can be seen, since all tsetse development before it emerges from the puparial case as a full adult occurs without feeding, based only on nutritional resources provided by the female parent. The female must get enough energy for her needs, for the needs of her developing offspring, and for the stored resources which her offspring will require until it emerges as an adult. Technically, these insects undergo the standard development process of insects, which consists of oocyte formation, ovulation, fertilization, development of the egg, three larval stages, a pupal stage, and the emergence and maturation of the adult.
Tsetse fly | Life cycle