Over 350 million years ago, dragonflies first started to zip around ponds, marshes, and other bodies of water.
This prehistoric insect belongs to the Odonata family, along with their closely related cousin-insects, damselflies.
There are over 3,000 known dragonfly species living on nearly every continent in the world.

These Ancient Insects Have Truly Surprising Qualities

　　Prehistoric-looking dragonflies can be a little intimidating as they swoop about the summer skies. In fact, according to one dragonfly myth, the uncanny creatures would sew up the lips of unsuspecting humans. Of course, that’s not even remotely true. Dragonflies are essentially harmless. Even better, these large-eyed aeronauts love to feed on pests like mosquitoes and midges for which we can be truly grateful—but those aren’t the only interesting qualities that make them so fascinating.

　　1. Dragonflies Are Ancient Insects

　　Long before the dinosaurs roamed the Earth, dragonflies took to the air. Griffenflies (Meganisoptera), the gigantic precursors to modern dragonflies had wingspans of over two feet Pupke, Chris. “Dragonflies -The Hawks of the Insect World Are Important Environmental Indicators.” Biophilia Foundation. and dotted the skies during the Carboniferous period over 300 million years ago.

　　2. Dragonfly Nymphs Live In the Water

　　There’s a good reason why you see dragonflies and damselflies around ponds and lakes: They’re aquatic! Female dragonflies deposit their eggs on the water’s surface, or in some cases, insert them into aquatic plants or moss. Once hatched, the nymph dragonfly spends its time hunting other aquatic invertebrates. Larger species even dine on the occasional small fish or tadpole. After molting somewhere between six and 15 times, a dragonfly nymph is finally ready for adulthood and crawls out of the water to shed its final immature skin.

　　3. Nymphs Breath Through Their Anus

　　The damselfly nymph actually breathes through gills inside its rectum. Likewise, the dragonfly nymph pulls water into its anus to facilitate gas exchange. When the nymph expels water, it propels itself forward, providing the added benefit of locomotion to its breathing.

　　4. Most New Dragonfly Adults Are Eaten

　　When a nymph is finally ready for adulthood, it crawls out of the water onto a rock or plant stem and molts one final time. This process takes several hours or days as the dragonfly expands to its full body capacity.2 These newly emerged dragonflies, known at this stage as teneral adults, are soft-bodied, pale, and highly vulnerable to predators. Until their bodies fully harden they are weak flyers, making them ripe for the picking. Birds and other predators consume a significant number of young dragonflies in the first few days after their emergence.

　　5. Dragonflies Have Excellent Vision

　　Relative to other insects, dragonflies have extraordinarily keen vision that helps them detect the movement of other flying critters and avoid in-flight collisions. Thanks to two huge compound eyes, the dragonfly has nearly 360° vision and can see a wider spectrum of colors than humans. Each compound eye contains 28,000 lenses or ommatidia and a dragonfly uses about 80% of its brain to process all of the visual information it receives.

　　6. Dragonflies Are Masters of Flight

　　Dragonflies are able to move each of their four wings independently. They can flap each wing up and down, and rotate their wings forward and back on an axis. Dragonflies can move straight up or down, fly backward, stop and hover, and make hairpin turns—at full speed or in slow motion. A dragonfly can fly forward at a speed of 100 body lengths per second (up to 30 miles per hour).

　　7. Male Dragonflies Fight for Territory

　　Competition for females is fierce, leading male dragonflies to aggressively fend off other suitors. In some species, males claim and defend a territory against intrusion from other males. Skimmers, clubtails, and petaltails scout out prime egg-laying locations around ponds. Should a challenger fly into his chosen habitat, the defending male will do all he can to chase away the competition. Other kinds of dragonflies don’t defend specific territories but still behave aggressively toward other males that cross their flight paths or dare to approach their perches.

　　8. Male Dragonflies Have Multiple Sex Organs

　　In nearly all insects, the male sex organs are located at the tip of the abdomen. Not so in male dragonflies. Their copulatory organs are on the underside of the abdomen, up around the second and third segments. Dragonfly sperm, however, is stored in an opening of the ninth abdominal segment. Before mating, the dragonfly has to fold his abdomen in order to transfer his sperm to his penis.

　　9. Some Dragonflies Migrate

　　A number of dragonfly species are known to migrate, either singly or en masse. As with other migratory species, dragonflies relocate to follow or find needed resources or in response to environmental changes such as impending cold weather. Green darners, for example, fly south each fall in sizeable swarms and then migrate north again in the spring. Forced to follow the rains that replenish their breeding sites, the globe skimmer—one of several species that’s known to spawn in temporary freshwater pools—set a new insect world record when a biologist documented its 11,000 mile trip between India and Africa.

　　10. Dragonflies Thermoregulate Their Bodies

　　Like all insects, dragonflies are technically ectotherms (“cold-blooded”), but that doesn’t mean they’re at the mercy of Mother Nature to keep them warm or cool. Dragonflies that patrol (those that habitually fly back and forth) employ a rapid whirring movement of their wings to raise their body temperatures. Perching dragonflies, on the other hand, who rely on solar energy for warmth, skillfully position their bodies to maximize the surface area exposed to sunlight. Some species even use their wings as reflectors, tilting them to direct the solar radiation toward their bodies. Conversely, during hot spells, some dragonflies strategically position themselves to minimize sun exposure, using their wings to deflect sunlight.

　　Dragonfly Facts and Life Cycle

　　Surprisingly, these brilliantly colored masters of the air are classified as aquatic insects because they spend most of their lives as larvae underwater among plants or in silt. They may spend five years or more in the larval stage, molting several times before emerging as adults—and then living only a few weeks to a few months.

　　With keen eyesight and expert airmanship, dragonflies and damselflies easily outmaneuver and catch insect prey. Their four gossamer wings move independently, allowing them to fly forward, backward, and sideways, or to just hover in place. Bead-like eyes provide 360–degree stereovision, allowing them to spot insects in any direction without turning or moving their heads. (In fact, dragonflies have the biggest eyes in the insect world.)

　　Dragonflies and damselflies, though similar in their life cycle and appearance, fly differently. You can distinguish them by noticing that dragonflies fly directly and purposefully, while the damselfly’s flight is more fluttery. The damselfly also has a slightly longer abdomen.

　　What do Dragonflies Eat?

　　The dragonflies’ and damselflies’ fondness for mosquitoes puts them in the category of beneficial insects, but they eat many other annoying bugs. Their diet includes midges, moths, flies, and other flying insects. Unfortunately, they also sometimes eat butterflies. This means that planting flowers that attract butterflies might keep your yard full of both species.

　　Dragonflies aren’t just beneficial as mosquito-eaters. Their role as barometers of wetland health is also very important. To survive, odonate larvae need clean, well-oxygenated water. Drainage of wetlands, pollution from farming and industry, and the development of new roads and houses have increasingly reduced dragonfly habitat. Conservation of existing wetlands is key to odonate survival, as is providing new habitats for them to colonize.

　　Fossil records show that dragonflies existed for 100 million years before the dinosaurs. These prehistoric predators had over three-foot wingspans and were the largest insects known. Imagine if they were that big now—a dainty dragonfly landing on your finger would not seem quite so charming!