The Dragonfly

Here at the fresh water ecosystem, we find a Flame Skimmer Dragonfly. What a pretty
sight it is at this time of year. The female needs to live near the fresh water because she lays her eggs in ponds. The eggs hatch and become naiads (ny-ads) or nymphs. Naiads will eat mosquito and fly larvae (hooray!) and other insect larvae found in the water. When the naiad gets mature enough, which sometimes takes years, it will crawl out of the water and onto a vertical stem, like the one seen here.
The naiad begins to molt, or shed its outer drying skin. Out pops the dragonfly. Dragonflies eat mosquitoes and flies (hooray!) and other small flying insects. In turn, dragonflies are eaten by birds, some mammals, and frogs. This Flame Skimmer is reddish orange, but dragonflies come in all different colors. In fact, I saw a beautiful blue dragonfly today also, but it flew away before I could get a picture of it.

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