WINGING IT

The image below is a photo of the exhibit panel. Following it is a transcript of the panel.

Photo of the panel from the exhibit.

Aquatic young dragonflies turn into high-flying adults that mate and hunt on the wing.

Most insects change shape, or body form, during development. Dragonfly nymphs live underwater. Adults trap prey in mid-air with their spiny legs.

dragonflies: insects with two pairs of non-folding wings

New feature:

    two pairs of wings work together for fast, controlled flight (15 to 25 miles per hour)

When? 300 million years ago to present

PICTURE CAPTIONS:

  • Adult dragonflies lay eggs in swampy ground or in water.
  • A nymph is a voracious predator with large jaws. It stalks small fishes and other prey, propelling itself by jetting water from its hindgut.
  • After completing its early development, the nymph leaves the water. Its exoskeleton bursts open to reveal a limp adult, which soon expands its wings, hardens, and flies away.
  • Diagram showing common ancestry and evolution of crustaceans, centipedes, and dragonflies from organisms with a head fused from six body segments. Evolution of centipedes and dragonflies is where only pair of antennae branches off.