Thursday, December 18, 2008

Mask - Chlorogompidae

What is this? Ahha...... it is actually the mask of a dragonfly larva. The mask is important structure located under the neck/head of the larva. It is used to catch its prey. Different species/genera/families have different shape of mask, and it is taxonomically significant.

this is a mask of a Chlorogompidae larva; dorsal view