Flashing blue among the greenery, the banded demoiselle lives along slow-moving rivers, canals and streams with plenty of vegetation on the banks. Extraordinarily, females dive underwater to lay their eggs on the stems of water plants, breathing air they have trapped between their wings. The stick-like larvae live underwater for two years and then crawl up the stems into the air, where they transform into the bright insects for a brief two weeks of winged life.
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