16 A Dragon That Flies

Although it doesn’t breathe fire, this dragon can fly. And what a beauty it is. By far the scariest thing about the dragonfly is its name. This double-winged, fast-flying insect is totally harmless. It has large, deep eyes that can detect the smallest movements. Its body may be bright blue and red or a vivid green. Dragonflies in flight look like dancing spots of color in the light of a midsummer’s day.

The dragonfly has a long and respectable history. It was one of the first flying insects on earth. To see this oldest of the dragonfly world in action, head for a pond. Dragonflies live near the water. In fact, they lay their eggs in the water.

A dragonfly goes through several big changes before it becomes a flying insect. From the eggs, a tiny creature called a nymph is hatched. It lives in the water, eating other small creatures that live in the pond. As the nymph grows, it becomes too big for its skin. Then it sheds the skin that is too small for it. Soon it grows a new one. This molting happens several times, until the insect is full-grown. At this time it crawls up the stem of a water plant, out into the air. It squeezes its way out of its last skin as a full-fledged dragonfly.

After going through all that work to grow up, the dragonfly only lives for about a month. But for this short time it stardles the hot summer air with its bright beauty.

虽然它不喷火，但这种“龙”会飞。而且它是多么美丽啊。到目前为止，蜻蜓最吓人的地方就是它的名字。这种双翼、飞行迅速的昆虫是完全无害的。它有大大的、深邃的眼睛，能察觉最微小的动静。它的身体可能是亮蓝色和红色的，或者是鲜艳的绿色。飞行中的蜻蜓在仲夏的光线下看起来就像舞动的彩色斑点。

蜻蜓有着悠久且值得称道的历史。它是地球上最早的飞行昆虫之一。要想看到蜻蜓世界中这种最古老的成员活动，就去池塘看看吧。蜻蜓生活在水边。事实上，它们在水中产卵。

蜻蜓在变成会飞的昆虫之前要经历几次大的变化。从卵中会孵化出一种叫做若虫的小生物。它生活在水中，以池塘里的其他小生物为食。随着若虫生长，它的身体变得太大，原来的外皮装不下了。然后它会蜕掉过小的外皮，很快又长出新的。这种蜕皮会发生好几次，直到昆虫完全长成。这时它会沿着水生植物的茎爬到空中，挤破最后一层外皮，成为一只成熟的蜻蜓。

在经历了这一切成长的过程后，蜻蜓的寿命只有大约一个月。但在这短暂的时间里，它以其耀眼的美丽点亮了炎热的夏日天空。