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Emergence of a Southern Hawker Dragonfly:
I was lucky enough to observe the full emergence of a Southern Hawker dragonfly. The process begins with the nymph leaving the water and climbing up a reed. It then sits still for around 10 minutes: 
A bulge then appears in the nymph's back: 
Slowly but surely the dragonfly starts to push its way out of the exuvia: 
The dragonfly's eyes are now visible: 
With a further push it breaks some of the breathing tubes that it used as a nymph. You can see that one is still attached: 
All breathing tubes have now snapped. It was at this point that I began to worry that the dragon was going to fall into the water below. It also seemed to sense this and so stopped pushing: 
I therefore bent a nearby reed within reach and as soon as I did so the dragonfly held onto it and pushed its way out of the exuvia. The end of a remarkable process. Newly emerged dragonflies would typically stay in this position for several hours while the wings harden and the body develops its adult colours: 
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