A day in the life of a nymphal dragonfly starts in the rushing waters of a river. Its life will be made of many days, as they can live as a naiad for up to five years before molting into their adult body. Their lower jaw is their weapon of choice, springing out at prey through hydraulic pressure. Prey can be as active and large as a tadpole, or more realistic in comparative size, such as mayfly larvae, caddisflies, or mosquito larvae. Some may even take on diving beetles!
Oxygen exchange occurs through the abdomen, so a dragonfly nymph may spend time between meals with their tails by the water's surface or pumping water through their bottom to their gills. They may also spend that time speeding away from the bills of ducks or kingfishers or even the mouths of particularly speedy frogs. Underneath the river's surface is far from freedom from predators, depending on the specific type of aquatic ecosystem the dragonfly nymph inhabits.
In vernal pools, a nymph may be the top of the food chain, the apex predator, but in the river this story has imagined inhabiting, larger bony fish travel through the currents, eager to consume any and every small invertebrate they can tolerate the taste of. A dragonfly nymph would make a tasty treat if the fish can catch up as the nymph propels itself with the same jets once used to hunt prey, now used to ensure safety. Now used to avoid becoming that same fate: prey.
The goal of all animals' lives, excluding parasites, is to avoid becoming prey. Dragonfly adults are uniquely predators, only vulnerable from the air, mostly from birds, but dragonfly nymphs, like many aquatic creatures, face predators from both within their watery homes and aerial predation.
The fading light signals that the day is over, so the nymph wedges itself beneath a rock to sleep, ready for another day of dodging and attacking tomorrow, not that the insect has a true concept of tomorrow. A dragonfly nymph is incapable of anticipation the way a human might be, but they do sleep.
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