Dragonflies never fail to amaze me. Beautiful and attractive, yet fierce and vicious. Perhaps that's why they are named the dragon-fly. They are predators hunting primarily mosquitoes, and other small insects like ants and flies. So basically they are like pest busters. I wonder if they would put up a fight with a praying mantis or my personal nemesis in the insect world, the roach.
My tutor used to tell me how she would go to the pond to catch dragonflies when she was young. Once she managed to grab a dragonfly by its tail, but it turned around and delivered a painful bite to her finger. Since then she didn't want to mess around with them. I've also heard from NS guys that they use dragonflies as wards against mosquitoes. I thought that was pretty ingenious.
Dragonflies are found mostly around lakes, ponds, rivers and wetlands because they spend the 'larvae' stage of their lives in water. This stage can last as long as five years for larger species, whereas smaller species experience this stage between two months to three years. Another cool fact I learnt about dragonflies is that they can't walk. They have six legs like all other insects but they are only able to fly. I guess the fact that they have dual pairs of wings make up for their inability to walk. Now I know why dragonflies keep still after landing, but are swift and quick in the air.And that's about all the little educational bits of information on the dragonfly. ^^
