Naiad

At this time of year, creeks, rivers, marshes and ponds are filling with water from melting snow and spring rains.  Dragonflies and damselflies are two animal groups to watch for in these wetland areas.

You may not see many of them flying around your backyard or local ponds yet.  The ones we love to watch flitting over the ponds and showing off their aerial skills are adults.  Each summer, males & females will mate and lay eggs in submerged plant stems, mud-banks, damp logs or directly into the water.  After two to six weeks, eggs will hatch into naiads (pronounced nay’-ed), sometimes called nymphs, and they will live in the ponds for several months to several years, depending on the species.

A naiad is a formidable predator. The abdomen contains a set of openings through which the naiad can propel water at jet force pushing it through the pond at incredible speeds. The lower jaw of this insect is about one-third the length of the entire body.  When it is not eating, this jaw remains at rest under the head.  But when hunting, the lower jaw can shoot out to stab its prey.  All dragonflies are in the insect order Odanata, a Greek word meaning ‘tooth’.  An excellent short video can be found at A Baby Dragonfly’s Mouth Will Give You Nightmares | Deep Look

Naiads can be placed into three groups: ones that crawl, ones that climb or ones that burrow.  The crawlers have long legs, drab colors and move slowly along the bottom of ponds.  Climbing naiads can be found on dense vegetation in quiet ponds.  Burrowers can be found in muddy banks along faster flowing creeks and streams.

Try this activity to learn more: take a dip net or small container and scoop up some of the soft mud at the bottom of a pond.  Pour that out into a shallow, light colored tray.  Keep it shaded and wet, so any naiads are protected until you return them to the pond.  With a little luck, you should be able to spot one or two of them.  Can you identify their color?  Can you find their lower jaw and see how it moves?  Can you see the openings for water intake and jet propulsion along the back underside of the abdomen? 

Come back in the early morning or late afternoon of a summer day, when temperatures start to soar, to see if you can spot a naiad climbing out of the water onto plant stems or leaves and molt one final time to reveal its wings and fully formed adult body.

Check out these links to learn more about common dragonflies in Illinois: https://fieldguides.fieldmuseum.org/guides/guide/380

http://www.museum.state.il.us/ismdepts/zoology/odonata/