Dragonfly

My Home: I am most often found near water and usually remain within a few miles of the place where my egg was hatched.

What I eat: As a larva, I eat tadpoles or small fish. As an
adult I will eat other small insects, primarily mosquitoes,
and I am considered useful for controlling the mosquito
population. Dragonflies are carnivorous in both larval and
adult stages.

What I look like: I am usually green and range in size by
species from one to five inches. My antennae are two
or three times the length of my body.

How I am born: I go through three stages
of development: egg, naiad (larval) and
adult. My egg is laid in water and I
typically hatch in two to three weeks. In
my larval stage I am called a naiad. I
live in the water and use internal gills to
breathe. I can live in the water as a naiad
for two to three years. When I am ready to
become an adult I crawl out of the water and
shed my skin. As an adult, I can live for over a
year if I migrate away from the cold.