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Dragonflies:
Dragonflies:
The dragonfly, popularly known as the “damselfly” or “aguacil”, is another insect that undergoes metamorphosis into insects. An individual of this species can live for more than a year, during which time it will have completed the following cycle of life and changes, devoting the smallest amount of that year to adulthood.
- Eggs: Like all other insects, dragonflies hatch from eggs laid by a fertilised female, as dragonflies mate in mid-flight. Eggs are generally laid on aquatic plants or released into the water of rivers, lakes or ponds.
- The nymph: The larval stage of the dragonfly is also known as the nymph, and begins when an egg hatches and releases a humped, underwater creature whose diet is constant and based on smaller creatures. This stage of life can be quite long, since the metamorphosis does not begin until the climatic conditions are suitable for the nymph to emerge from the water. But in the meantime, the nymph will undergo a series of moults and transformations, which will gradually strip it of its hump and provide it with small nymphal wings, as well as the tracheal apparatus necessary to replace the gills.
- The dragonfly: When it is ready to emerge from the water, the nymph will look for some aquatic plant to attach itself to and will begin its ascent to the surface, during which it will lose its outer shell (called exuvia) and emerge from itself as an adult. From then on, it will have a flying life, although restricted to a few months: enough to reproduce and restart the cycle.
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