Dragonflies are the first winged insect known to evolve, from a wingspan of over 2 feet 300+ million years ago, to what we know today.
There are currently more than 5k known species of dragonfly/damselfly, all belonging to the "Odonata" family—the Greek meaning of Odonata, "Toothed One", referring to dragonfly's serrated teeth.
The dragonfly is aquatic during its larval stage, lasting up to two years. They will eat tadpoles, fish, and even each other.
Once it crawls out of the water, the exoskeleton will crack, opening and releasing the insect's abdomen that has Photo provided by Camden TDA 2020 been packed in like a telescope. The four
wings will emerge and over the next several hours to days, they will dry and harden.
As expert fliers, they fly straight up, straight down, hover in place, and even mate mid-air. The dragonfly head is almost entirely eye giving them incredible vision in all directions with only one blind spot, right behind them. These insects could potentially starve without their masterful flight skills and ability, as they catch and kill prey while in flight.
An adult dragonfly can live anywhere from a few weeks to a full year eating 30 to hundreds of mosquitos each day!
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