> starting life as a worm-like thing.

Not that different from a dragon fly[0], really. Most insects go through distinct metamorphosis[1]: egg -> larva -> pupae -> adult.

[0] https://media.australian.museum/media/dd/images/Some_image.w...

[1] https://www.amentsoc.org/insects/fact-files/life-cycles.html

I might stand corrected - my own citation lists dragonflies as incomplete metamorphosis. I guess it’s true that they don’t pupate, but I thought the juvenile was still striking enough to mention as not necessarily obviously a dragonfly.