Dragonfly laying eggs
Over the past summer, I have made it a goal to learn more about common dragonflies and damselflies in my neighborhood. I started observing and photographing them; bought a wonderful book titled: Dragonflies of the Northwoods by Kurt Mead and joined the Minnesota Dragonfly Society (MOSP). A new world of knowledge has opened up to me, and I have felt a lot of joy in connecting with these beautiful creatures.
A the bottom of this post is a link to a poster which I created with the help of Sam Barczak, a 7th grader at Hopkins West Junior High, Hopkins, MN and Dewey Hassig, and Julie Ikhaml both of Minnetonka, MN.
Mating Bluet (sp)
Mike Farrell
Dragonflies/damselflies mate and lay their eggs in the water. Most of their life cycle is spent in the water as a larva ( up to two years), while the adults only live a few weeks.
Damselfly larva
Dragonfly larva eating a soft shell clam.
Click on the following link to see the Dragonfly poster: CommonDragonflies
I loved this article and the photographs. I tried to get some photos of two dragonflies that hang out by my pool a blue one and a red one, but the pictures don’t do them justice. All I know about dragonflies is that when I’m in the pool they love to play. Their presences has changed my swimming experience. Sometimes they will land on the edge of the pool coping and allow me to come very close and admire them…they are so beautiful. It’s so special to be able to get so close and feel so connected to these little creatures. I did a collage of us playing in the pool but I don’t know how to up load it and share it with you…sorry