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Dragonflies and DamselfliesHelp please
I have looked all over your site and others that are linked but haven’t been able to figure out what this critter is. This photo was mailed to me and I am told that the bug measured about two inches by one inch. It appears to be just a skeleton found on a board covering the crawl space to a camp in the Adirondack Mtns. Thanks for any insight you can provide.
Thomas Smith
Hi Thomas,
This is the shed skin from the final moult of a Dragonfly Naiad. Naiads live under water. They moult several times to fascilitate growth since the exoskeleton cannot grow. At the time of the final moult, the Naiad climbs out of the water and sheds its skin, becoming a winged adult. This Naiad might be from a Common Skimmer based on the shape of the abdomen.
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Comments 1
SO thrilled to find this post! We found the exact exoskeleton on a hike in CT and thought it was too short to be a dragonfly, but had no idea where else to search for the answer. Of course! What’s That Bug? came through for us again. We are homeschoolers who use this site frequently for our nature study, to identify found dead species. We do not created unnecessary carnage! ;-D Thanks, again!
Posted 08 Jun 2010 at 11:31 am ¶Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. You can also subscribe without commenting.
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