winged dragonfly

[vh1967]

I found the above on my pond netting this morning, it looked like an adult dragonfly that had died as it had full and large wings. My husband recognised it as the one he saw the previous evening stuck in our conservatory, which had then flown back into the garden.

On closer inspection, whilst photographing it, I realised in fact it was a case, and was totally empty. It had a line down the entire length of its body where it had been broken open, and there was no trace of contents.

What is the explanation for this? Do some dragonfly as maturing adults shed their skin to grow larger bodies, as do snakes?

I will attempt to post the image/s on your server. and provide link on this when done, but if not possible, maybe someone can answer this question anyhow.

http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/ar...167944&cat=518

[Wild-Woman]

The shed skin, or exuvia is the remnants of it's former existence as a nymph. Dragonflies hatch out as very small nymphs in water and go through several 'skin sheds' in water until they have the structure of an adult inside. At this time they emerge from the water, usually on some sort of vegetative support, where they split along a line of weakness dorsally and emerge as an adult. This emergence stage can last for a couple of hours, at which time, they are very vulnerable to predation and deformity if there is adverse weather.
Your exuvia find is what is left over from the nymph and can aid ID of the adult.
The adult stage lasts for only a few weeks in comparison to the nymph. They will fly, mate and die.

[Wild-Woman]

PS- from your shot, just loaded- it's a Brown Hawker.

[Oy]

Exuvia don't have wings though - do they?

[wint]

It's the remains of a dead Brown Hawker - not an exuvia.

[vh1967]

Hi, thanks for all your replies. If it is dead, how come its outer body is empty after only about 12 hours of last sighting alive? It has the split line wild woman mentions along its body where it was opened.

[earthdragon64]

Originally Posted by vh1967

Hi, thanks for all your replies. If it is dead, how come its outer body is empty after only about 12 hours of last sighting alive? It has the split line wild woman mentions along its body where it was opened.

Possibly it has been predated, maybe by another Dragonfly. There was a thread last year with photos of one Dragonfly almost drinking the insides of another Dragonfly. Dragonflies don't shed skins and grow after they have turned into Dragonflies from the nymph stage.

Here's a photo of an exuvia, where you can see the split the Dragonfly would have emerged from.



Here's a shot of a Dragonfly emerging.



Regards, Audrey.