-Animals (Kingdom Animalia)

-Arthropods (Phylum Arthropoda)

-Hexapods (Subphylum Hexapoda)

-Insects (Class Insecta)

-Winged and Once-winged Insects (Subclass Pterygota)

-Dragonflies and Damselflies (Order Odonata)

-Damselflies (Suborder Zygoptera)

Damselfly larvae (nymphs) are slender, aquatic predators with long bodies, large eyes, six legs, and distinctive, leaf-like gills at the end of their abdomen, unlike dragonfly larvae which have internal gills. They ambush prey using a hinged lower jaw (labium) that shoots out to catch food, camouflaging themselves among vegetation in ponds and streams before emerging as winged adults after molting.