Hummingbird and Butterfly Gardening: He's not a butterfly, but....., 0 by beckygardener

beckygardener wrote:
Debra - I have a feeling that the cold temps at night have slowed him down. Hopefully he'll recover soon and fly off! He's a beaut!

I have some small container ponds in my yard and last year I had a LOT of dragonflies. I had to wear gloves when working in the water containers because the larvae of the dragonfly have some jaws that can bite you. They are really, really ugly as larvae, but are so beautiful as adults. Here is a photo I took in the Fall last year. I like to go out in my backyard late at night with a flashlight to see what I can find. I just happened upon a newly morphed dragonfly. You can see the shed larvae skin right next to it! Apparently they are white when they change from larvae to dragonfly. In the morning when the sun hits them, they turn to their beautiful adult colors. This is one of my favorite photos. I got really lucky that night!!!