Most people would recognize the adult dragonfly, but the smaller drawing shows an immature form of the insect, called a nymph. A dragonfly actually lives most of its life in the nymph form – around two years in many cases, though this life stage can range from several months to as long as five or six years. As an adult, a dragonfly lives only several weeks.
Fishermen might recognize the nymph form, but most people probably wouldn’t – because dragonfly nymphs live underwater, breathing through gills. The gills are located in the insect’s rectum (interesting). When I looked at a live nymph under a microscope, I saw its rear end pulsing little jets of water – in fact, the nymph propels itself through the water using this method.
Fishermen might recognize the nymph form, but most people probably wouldn’t – because dragonfly nymphs live underwater, breathing through gills. The gills are located in the insect’s rectum (interesting). When I looked at a live nymph under a microscope, I saw its rear end pulsing little jets of water – in fact, the nymph propels itself through the water using this method.
I started looking at dragonfly nymphs in macroinvertebrate workshops offered through the Southeastern Natural Sciences Academy. Ruth Mead, Senior Education Specialist, runs workshops in which live macroinvertebrates (small invertebrates that are large enough to see with your naked eye, but not large enough to see well) are dipped out of the swamp water, and then you get to look at them under small microscopes. I tried drawing a live dragonfly nymph, but was only able to get so far with a living, moving creature before it was time to put it back in the water. Here’s the result (second drawing, below) – a decent start, but missing details. Next, I was wondering – how do I draw an adult dragonfly without killing it? Sometimes people find good-looking dead dragonflies, but I wasn’t having any luck. I could photograph a live one and draw from that – but it’s actually pretty challenging to shoot a live dragonfly. They just don’t stay still for long. And the more I looked at adult dragonflies flying around, the more I wondered at the variety of colors and wing designs I was seeing. Could those really all be dragonflies?
It turns out that dragonfly species are numerous, and they vary a lot in body shape and color. And plenty of them are actually damselflies. Dragonflies and damselflies look pretty similar – both have two pairs of wings, a long, sticklike body, and a helicopter-like flight pattern. Taken together, there are 5000 or more species of dragonflies and damselflies. Both kinds of insects belong to the order Odonata, and then dragonflies group into the suborder Anisoptera, while damselflies are in suborder Zygoptera. The order Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) is a rich category, and there are strikingly interesting-looking variations in color and body shape. At least 80 different species of Odonata have been found just in Richmond County.
A great resource for examining Odonata in detail is this website: http://www.mamomi.net/Home.html It’s run by Marion Dobbs, and has lots of his amazing photographs of these delicate insects. He gave me permission to draw from some of them. The adult dragonfly I drew is the Piedmont Clubtail (Gomphus parvidens), and the nymph form is the Common Sanddragon (Progomphus obscuris). These are the dragonflies in the first drawing shown above. Both species have been found in Richmond County.
Find out more about visiting the Phinizy Swamp through the website of the Southeastern Natural Sciences Academy: http://naturalsciencesacademy.org/
A great resource for examining Odonata in detail is this website: http://www.mamomi.net/Home.html It’s run by Marion Dobbs, and has lots of his amazing photographs of these delicate insects. He gave me permission to draw from some of them. The adult dragonfly I drew is the Piedmont Clubtail (Gomphus parvidens), and the nymph form is the Common Sanddragon (Progomphus obscuris). These are the dragonflies in the first drawing shown above. Both species have been found in Richmond County.
Find out more about visiting the Phinizy Swamp through the website of the Southeastern Natural Sciences Academy: http://naturalsciencesacademy.org/
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