Yes, it's a photo of a
dragonfly. Look
under the twig it's on. The white stalk with the oval at the end is a
lacewing egg.
I chased this little puffball on my fingertip but it refused to hold
still for pictures. It is a lacewing larva. I set it free
on a wall (where it zigged and zagged to avoid me) and managed to get
this photo of it on the run:
Here are a few more pictures of these clutter collecting bugs. I believe
that they stick little bits of whatever on their back to help them hide
from larger creatures who might otherwise think of them as a tasty
snack.
This lacewing larva was crawling around on the underside of a
milkweed
leaf. The milkweed had of juicy aphids for the lacewing larva to nibble on.
This lacewing was hanging below a milkweed flower at night. Do you
see something wrong in the picture, something unusual or odd? Take
a closer look.
Now do you see the spider? The predator becomes the prey.
Both lacewings and spiders are good for your garden, but both will eat
some of your butterflies.
Lacewing larvae eat aphids, which is
great for your
plants, but they also eat little
caterpillars. I have lacewings
and
spiders in my yard, but I still have
LOTS of
butterflies. Remember that most
butterfly eggs do not make it to full grown butterfly. These
fascinating bugs are one of the many reasons why, but they each have
their place in my garden nonetheless.