There are approximately 5,000 known species of dragonflies, identified as a part of the Odonata order of insects. Of those species, 3,000 extant species of true dragonflies are known. Most are found in tropical regions and begin life in the water. The nymphal stage of its development can last up to five years, but its adult lifespan is only five weeks to one year.
The adult dragonfly’s body has three distinct segments: the head, the thorax, and the abdomen. It has an exoskeleton made of hard plates held together with flexible membranes. The head is large with short antennae, and is nearly all eye, a wrap-around compound containing more than 30,000 lenses providing a 360-degree field of view. Two pairs of wings and three pairs of legs are attached to the thorax. It rarely uses its legs for walking; instead they are used for perching and climbing plants.
Dragonflies are predatory insects with serrated teeth. Once they enter the larval stage, which can last for up to two years, it will eat just about anything—tadpoles, mosquitoes, fish, and even each other. It can eat hundreds of mosquitoes per day. Using its feet, it captures its prey while flying. In fact, it only eats what it catches while flying. It is such a proficient hunter that, according to a Harvard University study, it catches 90-95% of what it aims for.
Some dragonflies migrate—like the green darner and globe skimmer. Scientists have tracked their migratory habits by attaching tiny transmitters to their wings with a combination of eyelash adhesive and superglue. They found that they fly an average of 7.5 miles per day, although there was one over-achieving dragonfly that traveled 100 miles in one day. A globe skimmer dragonfly has the longest migration of any insect—11,000 miles back and forth across the Indian Ocean.
Dragonflies are technically cold-blooded, but they have ways to keep themselves warm or cool. Patrolling dragonflies use a rapid whirring movement of their wings to raise their body temperature. Perching dragonflies rely on solar energy and position their bodies to maximize the surface area exposed to sunlight. Other species use their wings as reflectors, tilting them to direct the solar radiation toward their bodies. Conversely, when the weather is hot, they position themselves to minimize sun exposure and use their wings to deflect the sunlight.
Modern dragonflies have a wingspan of two to five inches, but fossil records tell us that before the worldwide flood of Genesis, some dragonflies had wingspans of about 30 inches.
They’re strong too! About half of their body mass is devoted to flight muscles, giving them the ability to lift more than twice their bodyweight—a feat that no manmade aircraft has ever come close to matching.
Among the fastest of all insects, the dragonfly has been clocked at more than 25 mph. It can take off backward, accelerate quickly, and then stop in an instant, execute an unbanked turn as if on a pivot, somersault in the heat of combat, and fly virtually any maneuver using seemingly endless combinations of its four wings. Using wind tunnels, the United States Air Force has studied the amazing flight versatility of dragonflies hoping to uncover the secret to their incredible aerodynamic abilities.
“And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: ‘Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, And to the Lamb, forever and ever!’ ” Revelation 5:13
Sources: smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/14-fun-facts-about-dragonflies; wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragonfly; thoughtco.com/fascinating-facts-about-dragonflies