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General: Dragonflies (Suborder Anisoptera) are small, flying creatures often seen zooming and
hovering around streams and pools of water. What we see as dragonflies, however, are the generally short-lived, adult, breeding life stage of the organism. The more numerous and longer-lived life stage is the aquatic larvae, which are voracious predators on other small water bugs and things like mosquito larvae. When the time is right, a dragonfly larva will climb out of the water, emerge from its exoskeleton, fly away to feed and mate, and leave behind its shed (exuvia).
Dragonfly larvae are harmless to humans, but they can provide a bit of a bite.
Taxonomy: Order Odonata, Suborder Anisoptera. |