Metamorphosis of the Dragonfly

Female dragonflies do not mate again after fertilisation. However, this does not create any problem for the males of the Calopteryx Virgo species. By using the hooks on its tail, the male captures the female by the neck (1). The female wraps her legs around the tail of the male. The male, by using special extensions on its tail (2), cleans any possible sperm left from another male. Then, he injects his sperm into the female's reproductive cavity. Since this process takes hours, they sometimes fly in this clenched position. The dragonfly leaves the mature eggs in the shallows of a lake or a pool (3). Once the nymph hatches from the egg, it lives in water for three to four years (4). During this time, it also feeds in water (5). For this reason, it was created with a body capable of swimming fast enough to catch a fish and jaws powerful enough to dismember a prey. As the nymph grows, the skin wrapping its body tightens. It sheds this skin at four different times. When it is time for the final change, it leaves the water and starts climbing a tall plant or a rock (6). It climbs until its legs give in. Then, it secures itself by help of clamps at the tips of its feet. One slip and a fall means death at that point.

This last phase differs from the previous four in that God moulds the nymph into a flying creature through a wonderful transformation.

The back of the nymph cracks first (7). The crack widens and becomes an open slot through which a new creature, totally different from the preceding, struggles to get out. This extremely fragile body is secured with ties that stretch from the previous creature (8). These ties are created to have ideal transparency and flexibility. Otherwise they would break and not be able to carry it, which could mean that the larva could fall into the water and perish.

In addition, there are a series of special mechanisms that help the dragonfly to shed its skin. The body of the dragonfly shrinks and becomes wrinkled in the old body. In order to "open" this body, a special pump system and a special body fluid are created to be used in this process. These wrinkled body parts of the insect are inflated by pumping body fluid after getting out through the slot (9). In the meantime, chemical solvents start to break the ties of the new legs with the old ones without damage. This process takes place perfectly even though it would be devastating if only one of the legs were stuck. The legs are left to dry and harden for about twenty minutes before any testing.

The wings are fully developed already but are in a folded position. The body fluid is pumped by firm contractions of the body into the wing tissues (10). The wings are left drying after stretching (11).

After it leaves the old body and dries out completely, the dragonfly tests all the legs and wings. The legs are folded and stretched one by one and wings are raised and lowered.

Finally, the insect attains the form designed for flight. It is very hard for anyone to believe that this perfectly flying creature is the same as the caterpillar-like creature that left the water (12). The dragonfly pumps the excess fluids out, to balance the system. The metamorphosis is complete and the insect is ready to fly.

One faces the impossibility of the claims of evolution again when one tries by reasoning to find the origin of this miraculous transformation. The theory of evolution claims that all creatures came about through random changes. However, the metamorphosis of the dragonfly is an extremely intricate process that leaves no room for even a small error in any phase. The slightest obstacle in any one of these phases would cause metamorphosis to be incomplete resulting in the injury or death of dragonfly. Metamorphosis is truly an "irreducibly complex" cycle and therefore is an explicit proof of design.

In short, the metamorphosis of dragonfly is one of the countless evidences of how flawlessly God creates living things. The wonderful art of God manifests itself even in an insect.

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