Document Actions
Dragonfly
A pale snaketail dragonfly in Golden, CO. (Photo: Tom Murray)
Here are some interesting facts about the amazing dragonfly:
The largest dragonfly recorded from fossil records had a wing span of about two and one-half feet.
There are approximately 5,000 different species of dragonflies in the world today, on every continent except Antarctica.
There are approximately 450 different species in the United States.
Dragonflies have a life span of anywhere from about six months to several years. Most of the dragonfly life span is spent in the water as a nymph. During this period, which can last up to a couple of years, it sheds its skin many times. Finally it crawls onto land to break out of its skin as a full fledged dragonfly.
Dragonflies are known as beneficial insects because they eat so many harmful insects such as mosquitoes, gnats, ants termites and even butterflies, spiders and other dragonflies.
Dragonflies do not harm people. They do not bite and they do not sting.
Estimates differ on how fast dragonflies fly. It could be anywhere between 30-60 mph.
Dragonflies can fly like a helicopter, moving in all directions, forward, backward, up and down. They can also hover.
Sight is the dragonfly's most important sense. Each eye can contain up to 30,000 tiny lenses.
The facts above were found at http://greennature.com/article2583.html. The photo, taken by Tom Murray, is of a pale snaketail dragonfly in Golden, CO.
Dragonfly News:
The largest dragonfly recorded from fossil records had a wing span of about two and one-half feet.
There are approximately 5,000 different species of dragonflies in the world today, on every continent except Antarctica.
There are approximately 450 different species in the United States.
Dragonflies have a life span of anywhere from about six months to several years. Most of the dragonfly life span is spent in the water as a nymph. During this period, which can last up to a couple of years, it sheds its skin many times. Finally it crawls onto land to break out of its skin as a full fledged dragonfly.
Dragonflies are known as beneficial insects because they eat so many harmful insects such as mosquitoes, gnats, ants termites and even butterflies, spiders and other dragonflies.
Dragonflies do not harm people. They do not bite and they do not sting.
Estimates differ on how fast dragonflies fly. It could be anywhere between 30-60 mph.
Dragonflies can fly like a helicopter, moving in all directions, forward, backward, up and down. They can also hover.
Sight is the dragonfly's most important sense. Each eye can contain up to 30,000 tiny lenses.
The facts above were found at http://greennature.com/article2583.html. The photo, taken by Tom Murray, is of a pale snaketail dragonfly in Golden, CO.
Dragonfly News:
- The Hine's emerald dragonfly, a species that has declined to less than 500 adults since it was listed as an endangered species in 1995, took one more step toward recovery when its habitat in Illinois became protected by the federal government on October 5, 2007.
- You can watch a short film documenting the emergence of a dragonfly.