Monster from the deep

Spotted a Southern Hawker emerging from one of the ponds, and - very conveniently - its exuvia nearby. So now I've got a definite comparison with what I'm now confident are Emperor exuvia I collected a couple of summers ago.

Though the hawker looked well on the way to its maiden flight at lunchtime, it was still sitting there when I walked past after work...

Urghhhhhh!

Dragonfly exuvia (shell leftover when the larva metamorphoses into an adult dragonfly). 

Southern Hawker or Emperor? I'm not sure...

Blue-tailed Damselfly

Large Red Damselfly trying to land on a too-shiny sign. It had better watch out for the toad...

photos taken with Canon EOS 30D, EF 300mm f/4L IS USM, or Canon Powershot A640

It's grey in May

Who lived in a skin like this?

'I did, the Large Red Damselfly'I found this poor cold creature at The Lodge today. It couldn't fly off, but tried to hide behind the skinny stem. I think the waving legs were to scare me.

Found some nice raindrops amongst the plants, though the light was terrible

photos taken with Canon Powershot A640

More monsters

Yes, another Four-spotted Chaser exuvia.


They look a bit more elegant once they've turned from a pond bottom-dwelling creepy crawly into a master of the air.

photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995

Pondlife

Waterlilies

I thought I'd start off with something pretty in this post. Several people commented on the recent Four-spotted Chaser pics, saying how it looked like an alien. Well, if you're easily scared, perhaps you'd better not scroll down to the bottom of this post...




Large Red Damselfly

No, those lovelies aren't what I'm talking about.

When monsters attack:



This is the shell of a recently-emerged dragonfly (probably a Four-spotted Chaser). The technical name is an 'exuvia'. Dragonfly nymphs spend years living in ponds (they're quite fierce, even eating small fish) before they make the transformation into adult insects.

They creep out of the water, usually onto a plant stem, and literally climb out of their own skins before drying their wings and starting the delicate, short, final stage of their lives...

This page has a great sequence of pics which demonstrates the process beautifully.

photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995