BBQ dragonflies....

No, I know, Im not eating them, I am celebrating them. As we were waiting for our burgers to be ready on the BBQ tonight, we were watching the amazing display of all colors and sizes of dragonflies! It was amazing. Marty had one land on his hand while he was riding his atv today, it sat on his hand for about 30 ft! We had one land on the deck on the wood art, and he sat there, for the longest time. We always wonder what they are thinking. We got close enough to see his eyes clearly. They were black and green just like a flies eyes, but not striped they way a flies eyes are, and their heads are pivotal like a gecko or other lizard, not like a regular insect. They can move it up and down and side to side. Very fascinating, I'd say "wass up" to it, and it would move its head in an upward motion as to say "sup , backatcha!", really cool. They are yellow and green and blue and red, and one was even brown and green kinda camoflage colored! LOL  Some are really small, like maybe 2 in long and about a inch across, and some are up to 4 in long and about 2-3 across.  Dragon flies cannot walk, even though they have legs, as they are quite top heavy.

Ancient ones, from more than 30,000 years ago, have been known to have wing spans of up to 3 1/2 feet in diameter! That would be scary! When they are born, they are nymphs, in the water, lasting up to 4 years in the water, they can provide quite a bite too. The only live in running waters, streams, rivers; and then as they are ready to moult, they climb out, and looking like a pincerbug they walk/slither to an area where they shed their old shell and come out with wings. We actually found hundreds of them under the bridge at the river at the beginning of summer! They were just like fossils, dried up bodies once held by the nymphs! They looked almost like they had been eaten as the bodies were almost sliced in 1/2 surgically, in the middle of their chests. but just like other speicies, like snakes, they leave behind thier old skins for new ones. Then they get their adult bodies and start to grow their wings.  Once their wings get sturdy, then fly around and only have time to grow and mate, and then they die, sometimes within only months of being out of their water world.  When they mate, the male and the female fly all over attached to each other by the males strong pincers, which are attached to HER head!, strange way to be together, but it works for them. You see two dragonflies chasing each other, sometimes landing, and the male pulls up his tip of his tail, and in like a curl, goes to the female and attaches to her. I have seen them follow and tease and play sometimes, where she is just not interested, and will fly away. Or I have seen three in a fly feud, two vying for their one true bug love.  Once impregnated,  the mother to be  dragon fly, eventually deposits her eggs along the river bank, and waits for them to turn into nymphs and the cycle starts all over again.