Today, we had 2 classes at our museum. One of the classes was about life in a pond -and we were they ONLY ones who showed up! I was glad the teacher was fine with this and went ahead and did the class for us. We really had fun!
She talked about the parts of a pond and what lives in the different areas. But, we had the most fun actually LOOKING in pond water. We used microscopes and saw some incredible creatures.
Alexandra's favorite "critter" was this dragonfly nymph. Isn't he great? And, he was about an inch and a half long! I enjoyed reading about the dragonfly nymph at this Dragonfly Site.
"Once the dragonfly eggs hatch, the life cycle of a dragonfly larva begins as a nymph. A nymph looks like a little alien creature. It hasn’t grown its wings yet and has what looks like a crusty hump hanging onto its back. Dragonfly nymphs live in the water while they grow and develop into dragonflies. This portion of the dragonfly life cycle can take up to four years to complete, and if the nymph cycle is completed in the beginning of the wintertime, it will remain in the water until spring when it is warm enough to come out."
Goodness! He really is alien looking, isn't he?
ReplyDeleteWe have a pond in our neighborhood. I'm tempted to run down there tomorrow and scoop out some water and see what we get.
I'll bet you dollars to donuts we won't find a dragonfly nymph.
Now this is just so neat. I never knew that a Dragonfly nymph spent it's time in the water while they grew. And taking up to four years to mature! Fascinating!
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