Their hind-wings are usually shorter and broader than their fore-wings. They are usually larger, strong-flying insects that can often be found well away from water. When at rest, they hold their wings out from the body, often at right angles to it. The eyes are very large and usually touch, at least at a point. The larvae have no external lamellae. No, although large dragonflies, if held in the hand, will sometimes try to bite they fail to break the skin. Nor do they attack people, though they are fearsome predators of other flying insects.
At a guess, Bacon had picked up on a folkloric name of that time. Jill Lucas which has a great deal about dragonfly folklore. Some of the larger dragonflies take 6 or 7 years! Most of this time is spent in the larval form, beneath the water surface, catching other invertebrates. The small damselflies live for a couple of weeks as free-flying adults. The larger dragonflies can live for 4 months in their flying stage. In Britain, lucky Damsel adults seldom manage more than two weeks and Dragons more than two months.
Most Damsels rarely go more than a week, and Dragons two or three weeks. They die from accidents and predation, and large numbers from starvation — in poor weather neither they nor their prey can fly.
No insect has a lifespan of only one day — even mayflies not closely related to dragonflies live for several months underwater as larvae before emerging as winged adults. In the UK dragonflies reach a length of about 85 mm and a wingspan of about mm.
Damselflies, which are the much smaller and weaker flying relatives of dragonflies, are much smaller. The largest in the UK are the Demoiselles. These have a body length of about 50 mm and a wingspan of about 60 mm. The biggest wingspan of a living dragonfly is the Central American Megaloprepus coerulatus with a wingspan about 19 cm. This is a thin, long-abdomened damselfly. The bulkiest dragonfly may be Petalura ingentissima from Australia female wingspan to about 16 cm , a central African Anax species or a reported, but apparently uncollected, aeshnid from Borneo.
This species is only 15 mm long with a wing span of about 20 mm. In prehistoric times dragonflies were much larger, the largest flying insects ever. The largest member of the extinct Protodonata was the Permian Meganeuropsis permiana with a reconstructed wingspan based on fragments, scaled to complete fossils of similar animals of about cm.
All the links in this answer take you to photos, displayed in a new browser window, outside the BDS web site. Average cruising speed is probably about 10 mph.
Small species, and especially damselflies, are generally slower, although many medium-sized species can probably keep up with the largest ones. When dragonflies and damselflies first emerge from their water-borne larval stage, most have very muted colours.
Depending on weather conditions, it can take a few days for them to gain their bright adult colour. Common Blue damselflies are often a pale pinkish-brown rather than sky-blue on first emergence. Some damselflies undergo a gradual colour change as they age, for example the Blue-tailed Damselfly.
The females have several different colour forms and some change from violet to rich brown while others go from salmon-pink to blue. Some of the larger dragonflies also change colour as they age. Older females may start to develop the colouration of the males. Examples are Common Darter , which goes from yellow-brown to reddish brown, and Black-tailed Skimmer , which goes from yellow-brown to a blueish-grey.
Greatly simplified, the life cycle is Egg usually laid under water , Larva free moving, water dwelling nymph and Adult. The larva lives for several weeks or years depending on species underwater and undergoes a series of moults as it grows. Mainly, adult dragonflies eat other flying insects, particularly midges and mosquitoes. They also will take butterflies, moths and smaller dragonflies. There is one Asian species which takes spiders from their webs! The larvae, which live in water, eat almost anything living that is smaller than themselves.
In some species, the nymphal stage lasts for up to five years, and the adult stage may be as long as ten weeks, but most species have an adult lifespan in the order of five weeks or less, and some survive for only a few days.
They are fast, agile fliers, sometimes migrating across oceans, and often live near water. Begin typing your search term above and press enter to search. Press ESC to cancel. Skip to content Home Resume What happens if a dragonfly bites you? Ben Davis February 15, What happens if a dragonfly bites you? How painful is a dragonfly bite? Can you get bitten by a dragonfly? How hard do dragonflies bite? Are dragonflies friendly to humans?
Some insect bites or stings can be severe, whereas some may be barely felt, while some can also turn life threatening and poisonous. Many people confuse between an insect sting and bite. They use these two terms interchangeably. An insect bite is caused from its mouthparts, when it tries to feed or defend itself to escape from the clutches of human hands. The bites of fleas, bed bugs, mosquitoes and mites cause more itching instead of pain, whereas there are many insect bites with stings that cause severe pain.
The stinging is caused when the insect has a stinging organ or apparatus of defense or offense, especially when linked with a venom gland. This stinging organ has the ability to pierce into the skin and create a wound, similar to the sting created by a scorpion.
This organ is usually located at the posterior side of the insect. The insects with a stinger that creates sting with a bite are bees, hornets, scorpions and wasps. A dragonfly is a flying insect with long and slender body, very transparent and strong wings, brilliant colors, spectacular flying ability and a unique behavior. It belongs to the Odonata Order, and hence, also referred as Odonate.
It is because; this creature has a strong mouth part for catching and chewing the prey, known as mandibles. It is a most common insect found in the surroundings and have metallic or iridescent colors that make them conspicuous during the flight.
Dragonflies do not have teeth, but the mandibles help them to bite and chew. This method is used for feeding on insects. They will grow this back at their next molt.
When dragonflies mate, they form what is known as a wheel and some species even fly around in this position. The female curls her abdomen around to access the sperm from the male.
Some males are super protective, flying with the female as she dips her abdomen in the water to lay her eggs—which are microscopic and about the size of the period at the end of this sentence!
Last but not least, there is a related insect called a damselfly. You have likely seen these flying around the pond along with dragonflies. Damselflies are usually smaller and dainter looking and they usually hold their wings over their bodies instead of open on the sides. A note about the slideshow pictures: I am not an entomologist.
Dragonflies through Binoculars by Sidney W. Dunkle published by Oxford University Press in Skip to content Site Overlay. Check out the slideshow at the end of the post!
Here are some interesting things about dragonflies: 1. References: Dragonflies through Binoculars by Sidney W. Follow us.
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