Dragons

Here are some interesting dragonfly facts that you might not know about Dragonflies:

They first appear in the fossil record some 360 million years ago. Ancient dragonfly fossils indicate that Permian dragonflies had an overall wingspan of some 75 cm. This compares with a modern Wood Pigeon..

Dragonflies are carnivorous throughout their life cycle - both aquatic and terrestrial. In flight they only eat live prey caught
on the wing - mainly other insects. They dine on garden pests. For 150 million years dragonflies ruled the skies, with barely any competition - until the Pterodactyl appeared! Feathered birds took even longer to appear!

Dragonflies are unique in that the males have two sets of genitalia. They reproduce by a system of indirect genital
contact and have no pupal stage as moths and butterflies do.

Today, there are over 5,700 known species of dragonfly in the world.

Dragonflies can fly up to 40 kilometres per hour (that's 11 metres per second) in any direction as well as being able to hover, glide, soar and loop the loop. They are supremely good aviators with extraordinary vision. Each compound eye
has some 40,000 individual elements.

Dragonflies never keep the same partner and will continuously seek out mates for as long as their health or the environment will allow.

In some countries dragonflies are a delicacy when roasted on a stick. Dragonfly colours will fade when they die which
is why the are rarely seen in a museum display.

Life cycle | Commentary

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