Dragonflies – Some Interesting Data on These Amazing Insects

By Sarah PJ White

Wander around any area in the summer months, including ponds, marshes and riverbanks, and you will often see these pretty insects in the general vicinity, as they prefer the calmer waters. They are different to Damselflies, as they can also often be seen flying quite a way from areas of water, too.

There are approximately 30 species of Dragonfly in Great Britain and Ireland, and they fall into five families and fourteen genera. The five main families are classed as Hawkers, Chasers, Emeralds, Skimmers and Darters.

Dragonflies come from the insect order called Ordonata, which also includes Damselflies. While Damselflies are from the Zygoptera sub-order, Dragonflies belong to the Anisoptera sub-order. This Greek name translates to mean ‘unequal winged’. Dragonflies have broader and shorter hindwings when they are compared to the front pair of wings. Dragonflies have six legs; however most of them cannot walk very well.

Dragonflies are exceptionally fast fliers, and are rated as some of the fastest insects in the world. Some species of Dragonflies have a cruising speed of ten miles an hour, with a maximum speed of up to thirty four miles per hour!

Dragonflies look different to Damselflies. Not only are the rear wings a different size, the Dragonfly cannot hold its wings against its body like the Damselfly; it has to hold them perpendicularly away from his body. The Damselfly has obviously separate eyes, whereas Dragonflies’ eyes touch together, usually.

Like Damselflies, a female Dragonfly lay its eggs in water, and these hatch into water nymphs. They look incredibly odd, with a crusty looking lump on thier backs.

Most of their life cycle of a dragonfly is actually spent underwater, as a nymph. The nymph stage of their life cycle can take up to four years, depending on the species. Dragonfly nymphs will eat other, smaller Dragonfly nymphs at times, too. Although the nymph will usual diet is mostly mosquito larvae and similar aquatic insects.

Once the transformation is complete, the nymph will climb up a plant stem, out of the water and shed its nymph skin to emerge as an adult Dragonfly.

The lifespan of an adult Dragonfly is typically only a couple of months. In this time, it will search for a mate and eat an amazing amount of small insects, including flies, mosquitoes, bees, ants and sometimes butterflies.

They are larger than Damselflies; for example, the Southern Hawker Dragonfly is six centimetres long, whereas Damselflies are usually only three centimeters long. They have a long abdomen, which has a wider section near the wings. This is usually colored, however the colors are usually thicker than those of the Damselfly, for example if it is blue and black, the black will be thicker and the bands will be blue.

Sarah P.J. White is a freelance writer and life coach who specializes in self help and general interest articles. To find out more about her latest ebook on Elderflowers and Elderberries, entitled “The Little Book of Elder”, please check out her website at http://www.theelderbook.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sarah_PJ_White —- http://EzineArticles.com/?Dragonflies—Some-Interesting-Facts-on-These-Beautiful-Insects&id=6148230

Dragonflies – Insects For Sale

[phpbay]dragonfly insect, 18, “”, “”[/phpbay]

Dragonflies – Some Interesting Data on These Amazing Insects related articles from the blogosphere…

A Moment with Dragonflies

www.getawaymoments.com Three inch dragonflies shot with a canon eos 7d with a EF 100 2.8. There is one shot at the end with an EFS 10-22 3.5 This week the dragonflies returned in numbers, i shot all the subjects in my tiny garden. If you find this vi…

Swarm Sunday: 2011 Year End Report, Part 4 | The Dragonfly Woman

thedragonflywoman.com12/4/11

As I said in my Friday 5 of dragonfly swarm stories, I hadn't expected for people to continue sharing their swarm stories when I switched from blog comment-based swarm reporting to an official report form, but boy was I …

Dragonflies – Steve's Digicams Forums

forums.steves-digicams.com12/2/11

While visiting in the north-east of NSW we went out photographing frogs at night, and among other things, dragonflies during the day. These are, I.

Waccamaw RiverKeeper Photo Of The Month «

myrtlebeachalternatives.com12/4/11

Dragonflies spend most of their lives in the larva stage in bodies of water where they prey on other small creatures during this growth phase. When circumstances are right, the larva leaves its aquatic environment and the adult insect emerges …

East Metro Water – Blog Archive – Grandpa, why are there dragonflies

http://eastmetrowater.areavoices.com/Dec 2

"Grandpa, why are there dragonflies.". East Metro Water Tips and tales about keeping water clean.

Related Dragonfly Articles