Meet Freddy, he's a dragonfly nymph.
That cute face is deceiving though... the fun thing about dragonfly nymphs is they use their highly modified mouthparts (specifically, the labium) to reach out and grab prey... like this! Rawr!
*giggle*Dragonflies spend the majority of their life time as a nymph, which is another word for a larval stage that lives in water. They prowl around the bottoms of ponds and streams, capturing small invertebrates and sometimes even fish and tadpoles. They're harmless, though I don't think you'd want to be pinched by one.
Here's a full body shot... he's about 18" long, and 25" long with the labium outstretched.
Dragonflies are amazing, beneficial creatures, and the nymphs are often used as measures of ecosystem health. Even though the nymphs aren't quite as pretty as the adults, I think they're equally, or even more, fascinating!
4 comments:
This is fantastic!
Out of my price range (which is pretty much nil), but indeed awesome!
you are my plushy hero. good job
I love dragonfly nymphs, although if you start with biology at a young age and then move into fantasy books, then you get the impression those "nymph-like" spirits look very different in other people's imaginations!
But given how useful they are, perhaps they are quite appropriate as "nature spirits". :)
Good job.
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