Photo Adventures with Curiosity and Learning


January 1, 2010: Singapore Botanic Garden by night

Larry and I returned to the Singapore Botanic Garden tonight - and later Colleen, Bernard, Rebecca and her brother joined us. Larry and I wanted to watch the metamorphosis of a nymph dragonfly - and we were not disappointed. First this white fuzzy caterpillar

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A wet white fuzzy caterpillar

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Here is the nymph. These guys live in the pond for some time - and then emerge in the evening and complete the metamorphosis. Below is the sequence from beginning to end - about 90 min

Time 21:06:00 SGT

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Time 21:13:05 SGT:- She was quite restless and here, walking around the lip of the lotus pond.

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Time: 21:30:03 SGT: - Here she is finally attached to her final resting place - about 9:30 pm

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Time: 22:25:17 SGT - The bulge to the left is the beginning of the emergence. See are the immature eyes and the abdomen

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Time: 22:26:12 SGT - Here the eyes appear, though without much color and the legs have emerged. The white horizontal tubes may be some sort of umbilical thingy

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Time: 22:26:35 SGT - As she leans back, the rear legs start popping out - the white blob just emerging from the nymph is part of the wing

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Time: 22:26:48 SGT - Here a rear leg is extended

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Time: 22:27:29 SGT - The immature (unfolded) wing has fully emerged

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Time: 22:28:23 SGT - Here her rear leg is over the wing

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Time: 22:33:04 SGT - Now all legs have emerged, the abdomen is emerging, more umbilical-like structures and two wings (crossed)

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Time: 22:36:50 SGT - She is now inverted, the two wins are fully emerged and the abdomen is emerging.

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Time: 22:38:01 SGT - Here the eye color is developing and you can see some of the vein structure in the small wings

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Time: 22:42:39 SGT - After fully extracted, she next rights herself and continues the maturation process

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Time: 22:44:57 SGT - Here the wings are unfolding and eye color is developing

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Time: 22:46:72 SGT - Wings extending

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Time: 22:47:07 SGT - More extension (compare with the end of her abdomen

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Time: 22:51:13 SGT - The vein structure is clearly evident here

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Time: 23:01:06 SGT - Now the wings are transparent

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Time: 23:05:48 SGT - A closeup of the eyes and face. The matrix structure of the compound eye is evident

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Time: 23:10:28 SGT - A better view of the compound eye

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Time: 23:11:04 SGT - Last image

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An adult sleeping near the pond

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another view

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A red adult dragonfly

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Another view

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And yet another view

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Oops - not Cyrtarachne bufo near the lotus pond. I'll need to work on the identification. No web, just along strand

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Frog eye

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White lotus

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Lotus

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

C. Frank Starmer

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