Thursday, August 29, 2013

Tumbhi





Tumbhi, a native indian word for dragonfly!
A symbol of hope, beholding the beauty in you.
A little swift insect, the fascination of every child, an inspiration for every adult.
Reminiscent of the man-made Helicopters !!!
An artist's quest, a writer's journey &
.......there are much more to this angelic being.

A dragonfly is an insect belonging to the order Odonata, the suborder Epiprocta (taken from Wikipedia)
Dragonflies can sometimes be mistaken for damselflies, which are morphologically similar; however, adults can be differentiated by the fact that the wings of most dragonflies are held away from, and perpendicular to, the body when at rest. Dragonflies possess six legs (like any other insect), but most of them cannot walk well. Dragonflies are among the fastest flying insects in the world.

 Life cycle :
Female dragonflies lay eggs in or near water, often on floating or emergent plants. When laying eggs, some species will submerge themselves completely in order to lay their eggs on a good surface. The eggs then hatch into naiads. Most of a dragonfly's life is spent in the naiad form, beneath the water's surface, using extendable jaws to catch other invertebrates (often mosquito larvae) or even vertebrates such as tadpoles and fish. They breathe through gills in their rectum.

The larval stage of large dragonflies may last as long as five years. In smaller species, this stage may last between two months and three years. When the naiad is ready to metamorphose into an adult, it climbs up a reed or other emergent plant. Exposure to air causes the naiad to begin breathing. The skin splits at a weak spot behind the head and the adult dragonfly crawls out of its larval skin, pumps up its wings, and flies off to feed on midges and flies. In flight the adult dragonfly can propel itself in six directions; upward, downward, forward, back, and side to side.[6] The adult stage of larger species of dragonfly can last as long as five or six months.
  
Dragonflies and damselflies

 Damselflies (suborder Zygoptera), typically smaller than dragonflies, are sometimes confused with dragonflies. Most damselflies hold their wings at rest together above the torso or held slightly open above, whereas most dragonflies at rest hold their wings perpendicular to their body, horizontally .
                          The eyes on a damselfly are apart; in most dragonflies the eyes touch.



The Legend of the Dragonfly ( Courtesy : the dragonfly hope foundation)


“In the bottom of an old pond lived some grubs who could not understand why none of their groups ever came back after crawling up the stems of the lilies to the top of the water. They promised each other that the next one who was called to make the upward climb would return and tell what happened to him. Soon one of them felt an urgent impulse to seek the surface; he rested himself on the top of a lily pad and went through a glorious transformation, which made him a dragonfly with beautiful wings. In vain, he tried to keep his promise. Flying back and forth over the pond, he peered down at his friends below. Then he realized that even if they could see him they would not recognize such a radiant creature as one of their number.” The fact that we cannot see our friends or communicate with them after the transformation, which we call death, is no proof that they cease to exist."


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