Damselfly picture

[troutmaster08 0]

Never posted under this topic before but thought this may fit here.

[SilverCreek 0]

That is a dragon fly and not a damsel fly. The most obvious difference is that damsels have thin bodies and dragons have thick bodies.

Both Dragons and Damsels have two adult stages, just like a mayfly.

The Teneral stage is like the subimago or dun stage of the mayfly = adult but sexually immature.

The Adult stage is like the imago or sexually mayre spinner stage of the mayfly.

Teneral Damsel:

 

Teneral Dragon Fly

 

 

Adult blue damsel

 

Adult Dragon Fly

 

 

[cebe 0]

Troutmaster, great picture, and I can even see the rod tip through his wings. Is that picture taken with your phone or a camera?

[niveker 0]

Nice photo @troutmaster08.  Didn't notice the rod in the background until @cebe mentioned it.  Makes the photo even cooler.  

 

On 8/28/2021 at 10:09 AM, SilverCreek said:

Dragons and Damsels have two adult stages, just like a mayfly.

I was not aware of that, SC, and I should have been.  Always learn something from your posts.   

[skeet3t 0]

Damsel flies have folded wings and dragon flies had horizontal wings.

[TroutFodder 0]

Great photos SilverCreek.

I have to provide clarification on two of your comments though:

"Both Dragons and Damsels have two adult stages, just like a mayfly."

and

"The Teneral stage is like the sub-imago or dun stage of the mayfly = adult but sexually immature."

Dragonflies and damselflies only have one adult life stage. When the nymph molts into an adult, it is sexually mature at that point (i.e. has sex organs that are fully developed) and does not undergo any further molts . The term teneral is simply used to describe the freshly molted adult as it waits for the exoskeleton and wings to fully harden.

In the case of mayflies, the first adult stage (sub-imago/dun) does not have fully developed sex organs and must under go another molt to the second adult stage (imago/spinner). Here, both the freshly molted sub-imago and the imago also experience a brief teneral phase.

Teneral is a term used to describe any insect that has molted and is waiting for the exoskeleton to harden (sclerotize) - including insects molting between nymph or larva instars.

Hope this explanation helps.

[SilverCreek 0]

It does help and thank you for the correction and clarification.

Do you know how the teneral undergoes the color change from brown to blue if the exoskeleton just hardens rather than molting?

[TroutFodder 0]

The exoskeleton hardens through a process called sclerotization. This in general leads to a darkening of the exoskeleton but colors also develop during this time, either independently through the formation of sub-cuticular pigment molecules, or through different cross-link reactions during the sclerotization process that affect the color of the cuticle itself. Some colors are also enhanced by the physical structure of the cuticle that refracts light in different ways (much like light passing through a prism).

[SilverCreek 0]

Thanks for the explanation.