Wow... dragonfly metamorphosis

feline groovy — Thu, 20 Jul 2017 16:52:12 GMT

I've seen caterpillar to butterfly; this rivals that magic and beauty!

Cute little guy/gal.

Video:

Incredible timelapse shows the mesmerising transformation of a dragonfly as it breaks out of its skin and prepares for its maiden flight

The beautiful metamorphosis is captured over a period of eight hours
When it reaches its full length it is around twice as long as the larval skin
It then starts to 'pump' up its wings and abdomen as it hardens off
Around an hour after fully leaving the larval skin it makes its maiden flight

PUBLISHED: 07:38 EDT, 20 July 2017 | UPDATED: 07:38 EDT, 20 July 2017

This extraordinary video shows the beautiful metamorphosis of a dragonfly over a period of eight hours in exquisite detail.

The remarkable timelapse footage shows the nymph breaking out of its larval skin as it transforms into an adult dragonfly.

Around an hour after fully leaving the larval skin its body becomes hard enough for the dragonfly to make its maiden flight.

The remarkable timelapse footage shows the dragonfly breaking out of its larval skin as it transforms from a nymph to an adult.

The unique video was captured at the home of Yan Liang in Hefei City, China by The Beauty of Science.

'My daughter caught the nymph and we decided to feed it until it transformed into a dragonfly', Ms Liang said.

'We mainly fed it with tadpoles. The transformation started at around 11pm and ended around 7am the following day.

'There are not many films which captured the whole process close-up at home with good lighting', she said.

The adult slowly breaks free of its larval skin and when its legs have sufficiently hardened the adult grabs the larval case and eases itself out.

It then starts to 'pump' up its wings and abdomen.

When it reaches its full length it is around twice as long as the larval skin from which it has just emerged.

'The egg hatches into the larva, also known as a nymph, which moults up to 15 times before emerging as an adult', Ms Liang said.

'Unlike most other insects, there is no pupal stage and the transition from larva to adult is known as incomplete metamorphosis', she said.

Around an hour after fully leaving the larval skin its body becomes hard enough for the dragonfly to make its maiden flight.

Newly-emerged dragonflies are often a pale green colour initially and after around a week they get their adult coloration and become sexually mature.

When this happens they move back to the water to breed.

Dragonflies have lifespans of more than a year but they spent very little time as dragonflies.

There are three stages in their life cycle - the egg, the nymph and the adult dragonfly.

Males and females mate while they are flying in the air and the female will then lay her eggs on a plant in the water.

Dragonflies can lay hundreds of eggs in their short adult lives, in batches either over a few days or weeks.

They either lay their eggs in plant material (which are elongated) or in water (which are rounded and laid in a jelly-like structure).

The larva - which looks like a tiny tadpole - emerges from the egg and wiggles to safety as soon as it can.

Dragonflies spend almost all their lives underwater and only spend weeks or even days in the adult form.

Re: Wow... dragonfly metamorphosis

sophiesofers — Thu, 20 Jul 2017 17:25:36 GMT

@feline groovy That was cool Thanks for sharing with us

Bird mama — Thu, 20 Jul 2017 18:22:53 GMT

WOW!