Turtles and Hellgrammites

1. Turtles and Hellgrammites A presentation by Asher and Raven

2. Turtles • The first known existence of turtles is about 200 million years ago. • Turtles are reptiles. • Turtles lay their eggs on land. • Several species of turtle can live to be over 100 years old, including the American Box turtle. • Turtles will live in any climate warm enough for them to complete their breeding cycle. • The shell of a turtle can contain more than 60 bones! http://true-wildlife.blogspot.com/2011/06/box-turtle.html

3. Turtles have a very distinct factor about them: Their shell, of course! Full grown turtles can range from 4” to about 9’ and live in or around bodies of water, and are green to hide within the vegetation. http://aquafind.com/articles/turtle4.php http://images2.fanpop.com/images/photos/5900000/Turtles-turtles-5992042-1024-768.jpg

4. What a turtle eats depends almost entirely of where and what type of turtle it is. Some small turtles are carnivorous, but as they mature they start to have a more open, omnivorous diet. http://www.petinfoonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Baby-Turtles.jpg The life cycle of a turtle is egg, child and adult. When the mature, female turtles lay their eggs and the life cycle repeats. http://images2.fanpop.com/images/photos/5900000/Turtles-turtles-5992051-1024-768.jpg

5. Hellgrammites • The dobsonfly lays eggs in water which them hatch in their larvae, or the hellgrammite. • Dobsonflies live most of their life in water as hellgrammites. • The larvae can reach up to 3”, nearing the end of their aquatic life. • As a grown dobsonfly, male’s jaws can become so big that they do not have the leverage to break skin! http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Dobsonfly

6. Hellgrammites are dobsonfly larvae, and they aren’t that pretty. They have large pinchers that can break human skin, if not too big. Their shell, while a larva, is composed of many different plates, almost like armor. http://www.critterzone.com/animal-pictures-nature/stock-photos/dobsonfly-larva-AWIN060509-122.jpg

7. http://www.vizzle.com/dobsonfly/dobsonfly144.jpg While larva, dobsonfly eat other fly larva. While adults, it is believed they do no eat at all. If you were a dobsonfly, your life would start when you are an egg in the shallow water, under a rock. After that you would hatch and live under water, until one day, you would molt and emerge into the world above. Almost immediately, you lay your eggs in the water, and then fly off into the world where you will die, and the life cycle repeats. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Protohermes_grandis.jpg

8. Reference • http://www.indianaturtlecare.com/Facts.html • http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=17+1797&aid=1492 • http://true-wildlife.blogspot.com/2011/06/box-turtle.html\ • http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/rhagor/article/turtle/ • http://mrswetherell.blogspot.com/2011/03/turtle-in-sea-by-jim-arnosky.html • http://aquafind.com/articles/turtle4.php • http://images2.fanpop.com/images/photos/5900000/Turtles-turtles-5992042-1024-768.jpg • http://images2.fanpop.com/images/photos/5900000/Turtles-turtles-5992051-1024-768.jpg • http://www.petinfoonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Baby-Turtles.jpg • http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Dobsonfly • http://www.critterzone.com/animal-pictures-nature/stock-photos/dobsonfly-larva-AWIN060509-122.jpg • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dobsonfly • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Protohermes_grandis.jpg • http://www.vizzle.com/dobsonfly/dobsonfly144.jpg • http://wildflowers.jdcc.edu/Dobsonfly(F).JPG • http://magickcanoe.com/turtles/painted-turtle-BC-large.jpg http://wildflowers.jdcc.edu/Dobsonfly(F).JPG http://magickcanoe.com/turtles/painted-turtle-BC-large.jpg