The dragonfly is a common sight near ponds or swampy areas in summer. It has four strong but delicate wings that look like tiny stained-glass windows. It darts through the air swifter than most birds, with its wings vibrating 1800 times per minute. It can outperform helicopters in hovering, flying forward or backward, up or down, or rapidly changing directions. Unlike most insects, the dragonfly’s large head can easily turn to help it spot insects, which it catches and eats while flying. Each of its enormous eyes has about 30,000 lenses, each pointing in a slightly different direction. The brain of the dragonfly compiles this information into one picture, so that it can see ahead, behind, above and below — all at the same time!
The dragonfly begins its life as an egg laid by its mother on or close to still water, where it hatches in one to five weeks. It hatches into a larva, also called a nymph, and then spends the next two to five years in the water. It eats nearly anything that moves, including many mosquito wrigglers, tiny minnows and tadpoles. It has a jaw that can extend rapidly to catch anything swimming or crawling too close.
The nymph molts up to 15 times. Its hard exoskeleton cracks open and the soft nymph grows rapidly for one to two hours before its outer skin hardens again into a tough shell.
Finally, the dragonfly is ready to become the beautiful flying creature we think of as a dragonfly. When ready for its final change, it creeps out of the water in the dark of early morning and becomes an air-breather for the first time. Resting on a stalk of grass or a twig sticking out of the pond, its skin splits open and a new creature gradually comes out — no longer an ugly nymph but a beautiful dragonfly. Its wings soon unfold, but some hours or days are necessary for them to dry and harden before it can fly.
At last it takes to the air. Flying at rapid speeds, its legs form a scoop-like net in which it catches its victims and transfers them to its strong jaws.
The dragonfly goes through a complete change in its life, from living underwater to living above water. If a dragonfly tried to live in its old, watery home, it would soon die. If it tried to go back to enjoy the food it ate as a nymph, it wouldn’t live through the attempt. Once it changes into a dragonfly, it lives in a different atmosphere and eats different food, and it flies instead of swims. What a lot of changes! Our opening verse tells us we should walk in newness of life. As Christians, we have new things for our minds to feed on, a new object to live for, and a new power to live like Jesus, too. May we walk in the joy of that new life!
Did You Know?
Dragonfly wings can vibrate about 30 times per second.
Messages of God’s Love 2/18/2024