Dragonflies – Some Interesting Data on These Amazing Insects
Dec 5th, 2011 by dragonfly

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

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