The beast and the beauty

Our garden pond appears to be full of silt and lifeless, apart from fat newts who've eaten all the tadpoles, but today I found a large dragonfly larva or nymph.  These nymphs have a hinged jaw that can shoot out to catch prey, so maybe they can hold their own against the newts.  Apparently late instar nymphs of larger species can use their mandibles 'to take a nip at an intrusive odonatist's fingers', so I was careful.  I'm looking forward to seeing it emerge later in the spring as a beautiful dragonfly.