need help about dragonfly larvae

[harasseddad]

Originally Posted by macro junkie

can somone tell me how long they spend at subadult stage?

In the UK, damselflies typically spend a year as nymphs. Dragonflies take between 1 and 3 years depending on species and/or water temperature.

[macro junkie]

that wasnt what i asked..dragonflies shed skin like prayingmantids..we call it (instars) prayingmantids shed 7 times till they get to (subadult stage) where the wing buds are clearly visible,1 more shed and there adult.hence the image above i posted..that is clearly a subadult as the wing buds are visible.

so i need to know -

1. How many sheds does a dragonfly larvey go threw ?

2.How long do they stay at subadult stage if theres lotsa of food.

im pretty sure only a most experience dragonfly expert would know this type of info..

[macro junkie]

i found this info after serching and serching

(nymph, naiad, larvae) going through 10-15 instars. Wing pads appear after the sixth or seventh molt, becoming swollen late in the final instar, a sign of imminent emergence.

[harasseddad]

Ahh, didn't realise what you were asking. The term sub-adult doesn't really apply to dragons.

The best predictions for emergence are changes in behaviour. The nymph will stop feeding around 2 days before emergence, and will start to swim around the emergence post somewhere around 12 hours before. (before this it will usually have been lurking in the pondweed)

It will switch to air breathing before climbing out, In captivity this will be about two hours before it comes up: the nymph will stick it's head out of the water to gulp air. (In the wild it can delay emergence for around 8 hours at this stage in case of rain or high winds.) Once it's up the stick it will shake violently to ensure that it has a good grip and that it has an unobstructed space in which to emerge. Then it will go quiet for a variable period while biochemical changes take place before starting to crack the exoskeleton.

You'll need to check for the species you have though - while most climb up a stick there are a few species that emerge much higher up - the clubtail typically climbs around ten feet before emergence - or wants to walk away from water before climbing.