Dragonflies (winged jewels)
I decided to do a little backyard dinosaur hunting last weekend
so I grabbed my camera and headed for the pond. Okay, dinosaurs
may be stretching it a bit but these insects have remained virtually
unchanged for millions of years. Dragon/Damsil flies are among the
most ancient of living creatures. Fossil records, of their forefathers,
go back to Carboniferous times which means these insects were buzzing
around more than 300 million years ago. They predate dinosaurs by
over 100 million years and birds by 150 million according to science.
Dragonflies are relatively large insects, even now, but in they
past they were much larger. Fossil remains of some of the largest
flying insects to have ever existed are Dragonflies, one species
Meganeura monyi had a wingspan almost 30 inches. The largest Odonata
in the world is actually a Damselfly (Zygoptera) Megaloprepus caerulata
from Costa Rica with a wingspan of 7.5 inches and body length of
nearly 5 inches.
Dragon and Damsel flies belong to the order called Odonata ("toothed ones") and have three distinctive parts to their life cycle - egg, nymph, and adult. Most will spend two to five years as nymphs, living underwater and feeding on insects, other nymphs, and the occasional baby fish known as fry. As adults, however, most don't live longer than a month or two. The adults come in a wide variety of colors and and these winged jewels have earned the nickname "fighter pilots" of the insect world based on their keen hunting prowess. Both are strong, agile, acrobatic fliers, able to snag pray, (flying insects, mostly mosquitoes) right out of the air. As you can imagine, their life-cycle depends on water and therefore both are abundant near ponds and fresh water marshes. Occasionally however, they have been reported many miles from the nearest water source, which again is a testament to their strength and flying abilities.
Odonata's and their nymphs are regarded as important indicators
of good water quality in any given area, and recent research finds
they can be useful for the biological control of mosquitoes. They're
also fascinating to watch, beautiful and quite harmless - they have
no sting and will not attack or bite. Wouldn't it be tragic if,
after surviving such an unimaginable number of years, it should
be our generation that witnesses a serious decline of these fascinating
and beautiful insects. The United Kingdom boasted 42 breeding species
of Odonata less than fifty years ago, three of these are now extinct.
The Orange-spotted Emerald was lost when a sewage spill polluted
its last remaining breeding ground; the Norfolk Damselfly similarly
surrender to local pollution; and the Dainty Damselfly was wiped
out when its Essex habitat was flooded.