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Larvae "hope for" the best possible weather conditions to emerge.
Emergence can be a dangerous process. Many things can wrong as the soft insect
emerges from its shell. When weather is rainy or cold for a very long period of
time, the odonate will often die. In order to reduce the risk of predators,
it will usually emerge during the night.
When the odonate does meet with good conditions, it crawls out of
the water and attaches itself to a bush, weed, rock, or structure. It then
waits until its shell is dried. After a few hours the skin bursts, usually at the back near the wing case. The adult
emerges through this hole in the shell. Usually the head appears first followed
by the thorax and legs. At this point the odonate often takes a brief rest,
and then releases its abdomen. Then the insect abandons its
exuvia, or larval case, and is now considered
to be a teneral. The teneral quickly
spreads his wings by filling the veins with blood.
Weather has a powerful effect on the dragonfly, not only when emergence
is about to occur but also afterwards. Harsh winds and rain can damage
the dragonfly's body and wings or dislodge it from its perch. Overcrowding or objects
in the way can interfere with the inflating of the wings or abdomen. As they are
emerging, dragonflies cannot fly away, making them vulnerable to predators.
Dragonflies use an extreme amount of energy when emerging and some even die before
completing this stage.
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