Dragonflies are no doubt one of the most beautiful families of the insect world. They have long slender bodies, four delicate wings with stunning colors.
These are normally found around water bodies across the world. Their life begins as aquatic larvae. The wings of dragonfly are an awesome act of natural engineering as they help the insect to fly forward, backward, up and down in the air and even make swift turns.
They can fly at speed of around 30 – 60 KM/hr. So they are also among some of the quickest insects on earth. This speed is possible by beating each set of wings in time or individually.
The origin of dragonflies goes back to carboniferous era around 300 million years ago. So they are one of the first types of flying insects. There are almost 7,000 dragonfly species that belong to order odonata.
The dragonflies have very interesting style of drinking water. They drink water by splashing on surface of pool or pond. The water is absorbed by their exoskeleton.
The dragonflies have compound eye which enable them to focus on one thing such as prey; even when lot of things are happening around them. They are even able to detect the trajectory of its prey.
With the help of its powerful wings, they can align its position to attack on their prey such as mosquitoes. According to scientists, the dragonflies have 95% success rate in capturing the prey.
All images are free and taken from pixabay.