The Life & Times of the Dragonfly
Dragonflies are more than just an insect that can fly backwards. They are an important factor in habitats and ecosystems. Worldwide, there are approximately 6,500 different species of dragonflies!
Needs of the Dragonfly
Dragonflies live on every continent except Antarctica since it’s far too cold for them to survive there. You are able to find them wherever there is clean, fresh water. Dragonflies are typically near wet habitats like ponds, lakes, rivers, streams, or wetlands. You may even notice a few of them zipping by you during the summer!
When you look for a dragonfly, keep in mind the time of year too. You will primarily see dragonflies in the summer months flying around. Even though you only see them in the summer in most parts of the U.S., they are quite busy year round due to their lifecycle!
How long do Dragonflies live? Is it true that they only live for one day?
At the shortest, a dragonfly’s natural life-cycle from egg to death of adult is about 6 months. Some of the larger dragonflies take 6 or 7 years! Most of this time is spent in the larval form, beneath the water surface, catching other invertebrates. The small damselflies live for a couple of weeks as free-flying adults. The larger dragonflies can live for 4 months in their flying stage. In Britain, lucky Damsel adults seldom manage more than two weeks and Dragons more than two months. Most Damsels rarely go more than a week, and Dragons two or three weeks. They die from accidents and predation, and large numbers from starvation – in poor weather neither they nor their prey can fly.
No insect has a lifespan of only one day – even mayflies (not closely related to dragonflies) live for several months underwater as larvae before emerging as winged adults. Adult mayflies may only live for a day or so as they are dedicated “breeding machines”. They cannot feed as adults as most species don’t have any functional mouthparts.
The Dragonfly Lifecycle
Dragonflies lay their eggs in the water and spend most of their life cycle in their larval stage as “naiads” underwater before they grow their wings and emerge as adults in the summer. It’s pretty impressive that they can live underwater in their larval stage for up to two years depending on the specific species! After hatching, the larva (naiad) has six legs, hinged jaw, and winged sheaths.
Once it’s ready to transform into an adult, the dragonfly larva shifts to the edge of the water and learns to breathe in air. Then they’ll slowly push out from their old shell body to emerge as an adult dragonfly. Adult dragonflies typically live for up to six months.
When they are young, the naiads are busy hunting in the water to find food to eat. They typically consume insects, fish, tadpoles, and aquatic worms. When the dragonfly emerges as an adult, they can catch more than 30 mosquitos a day! If you don’t really like insects like dragonflies, the fact they eat those pesky mosquitos should give them extra brownie points.
How long do they live?
Dragonflies live for months at least, and some live for several years as aquatic larvae before emerging and living for a few months as adults.
How do they grow?
Dragonflies hatch from eggs in freshwater, and spent at least a few months (sometimes several years) as aquatic predators. As they grow they molt (shed their whole skin at once) many times. Once they are big enough, they crawl out of the water and the adult stage emerges from the skin of the nymph. Once they have transformed into the winged adult stage, the stop growing.
Most dragonfly species spend the winter as nymphs in the water, but some migrate south, and spend the winter as adults. In few species that lay their eggs in the late summer or fall, the eggs don’t hatch until spring. Dragonflies emerge from the water in the warm months of spring or summer.
