Things You Never Knew About Dragonflies

Appearing over 300 million years ago, dragonflies are one of the first insects to inhabit this planet. They have had enough time to perfect the art of flying, excellent hunting skills and become interesting insects of the natural world.

Dragonflies are distributed almost everywhere in the world, especially in hot and humid tropical areas, and are familiar animals to humans. However, in fact, there are still many things about dragonflies that we have never known.

Here are some facts that many people never knew about this unique, ancient, and incredibly diverse insect species.

Dragonflies can intercept prey in mid-air.

If you were a small insect, such as a mosquito, encountering a dragonfly would be your worst nightmare. Not only because of its superior size, dragonflies' aerial hunting skills are also ranked among the best in the insect world.

They can capture their prey in carefully calculated and extremely scientific aerial ambushes. Dragonflies can judge the speed and trajectory of their prey and adjust their flight speed/trajectory to capture their prey alive. The success rate of dragonflies in hunting is up to 95%.

Dragonfly - the scariest 'butcher' in the insect world

Besides impressive hunting techniques, the dragonfly's ability to tear apart its prey is also extremely terrifying.

When hunting, dragonflies catch and hold their prey with their legs, tear off the prey's wings with their sharp jaws so that it cannot escape, and immediately begin their meal - all done in the air.

Superior flying ability

When it comes to flight, few animals in the animal kingdom can match the dragonfly. They have two sets of extremely thin wings, powered by powerful muscles in their thorax. This allows them to fly in any direction, including sideways and backwards, and to stay in one position in the air for a minute or more. This incredible ability is a contributing factor to their impressive success as hunters – simply pouncing from any direction.

Speed ​​and endurance are also impressive features of this animal. They can fly at a maximum speed of 29km/h, during migrations of more than 17,000km.

The head of a dragonfly is almost covered by eyes.

The head area of ​​a dragonfly is mostly covered with giant compound eyes, with a total of nearly 30,000 small facets. Each of these eyes gives them a bit of information about their surroundings.

Dragonflies have nearly 360-degree vision, with only one blind spot directly behind them. This extraordinary vision is one of the reasons why these insects almost never collide in flight, and it also helps them detect predators and prey from all directions.

Dragonflies live about 2 years underwater.

Dragonflies lay their eggs in water and when the larvae hatch, they live underwater for up to two years. In fact, depending on altitude and latitude, some dragonflies can stay in the larval stage for up to six years. They will molt up to 17 times before they grow up and transform into the dragonflies we see in the sky.

During their larval stage, they are specially adapted to aquatic life, notably the ability to catch prey at lightning speed. The menu of dragonfly larvae is quite diverse, they eat insect larvae (including their own kind), tadpoles and even fish - as long as it 'fits'!

Some species of dragonflies lay eggs in salt water.

Very few insects can lay eggs in salt water, with the exception of some species of dragonflies, such as the shore dragonfly Erythrodiplax berenicei. They can reproduce successfully in water with high salinity.

This extraordinary ability of Erythrodiplax berenicei evolved over millions of years, because their habitat is mainly salt marshes, mangroves and salt lakes.

Dragonflies are beneficial to humans.

Dragonflies help humans by controlling insect pest populations, especially those that pose the greatest threat to us, such as mosquitoes and biting flies. A single dragonfly can eat anywhere from 30 to hundreds of mosquitoes per day.

Dragonflies also inspire us to create new technologies—from drones to artificial vision systems—because of their incredible flight skills and eyesight. The least we humans can do in return is to help preserve their habitats so they can continue to exist for another 300 million years.

Today, dragonflies need to be protected from human-made threats, from pollution to habitat loss, and sanctuaries help address this. The UK got its first dragonfly sanctuary, the Dragonfly Centre, in 2009. Dragonfly enthusiasts in the US can also catch a glimpse of them at the Dragonfly Pond Sanctuary in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It is the first such sanctuary in the country and is home to a wide range of dragonfly and damselfly species.

Jessica Tanner

Update 06 October 2024