Big Needle of Wings

Deep in the sun-searched growths the dragonfly

Hangs like a blue thread loosened from the sky.

~ Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Silent Noon

I’m not a big fan of anything creepy crawly, but I happen to think that dragonflies are one of the coolest insects. Because it is my duty not only to entertain but to also educate, here are ten in ’10 fun and interesting facts about dragonflies. You can thank me when you become the new Jeopardy champion.

1 Despite their name, dragonflies are not related to common flies. In fact, they are part of an entirely different order of insects. Dragonflies are part of the Odonata order, which also includes damselflies. The name comes from the words “tooth-jawed.” Entomologist (insect scientist) Johann Christian Fabricius named them after studying their mouths to distinguish different species. Now dragonfly wings are studied as well to classify them. Among the many names for dragonflies around the world are Old Glassy from China, Water Dipper from England and Big Needle of Wings from the ancient Celts.

2 Dragonflies have two sets of wings, but they don’t have to beat their wings in unison like other insects do. Instead, their front wings can be going up while their backs ones are going down. They only flap their wings at about 30 beats per second compared to a bee’s 300 bps.

3 Dragonflies are excellent and strong fliers; they can loop-the-loop, hover, and fly backwards. An Australian variety has been clocked at 36 miles per hour.

  

4 Legend has it that dragonflies are known as snake doctors because they can bring dead snakes back to life.

5 Dragonflies have been around 300 million years. One prehistoric fossil had a wingspan of 2.5. Today, the largest dragonfly is found in Costa Rica and has a wingspan of 7.5 inches.

6 Dragonflies have huge stingers called claspers, which the male dragonfly uses to hold onto the female when they are mating. When you see two dragonflies flying through the air attached to one another, it is almost always a male and female mating. Caught in the act!

7 5,000 different species of dragonflies can be found in every part of the world except Antarctica. 450 of them are in the United States and about 80 in British Columbia, but most species are found in remote, tropical areas.

8 Dragonfly eyes contain up to 30,000 individual lenses; human eyes only have one. The adult dragonfly can see nearly 360 degrees around it at all times, though they don’t see details well. A human eye sees better than a dragonfly, but only to the front and side.

9 Dragonfly nymphs (the first stage after hatching, not a young girl who inspires lustful thoughts) live in the water for about a year. After leaving the water and becoming flying insects, they only live for about a month. While underwater they eat mosquito nymphs, tiny fish, and pollywogs. When they have matured to airborne insects, they catch mosquitoes and gnats in mid-air before devouring them.

10 An old wives tale says that dragonflies seek out bad kids and sew their mouths together while they sleep. In actuality, dragonflies don’t have pockets to carry the thread to the beds of sleeping wicked children!