Transcript:

Today on Animal Fact Files we’re discussing dragonflies. Dragonflies are often confused with the similar looking damselfly. Dragonflies and damselflies are classified in the same order, but each of these groups of flying insects are separate from one another even though they look like the same animals! Damselflies can be told apart from dragonflies through observation: dragonflies have eyes that touch or nearly touch, while damselflies have eyes usually appearing on the sides of the head; dragonflies are usually beefy while damselflies are slender; dragonfly wings are shaped differently while damselflies have similarly shaped wings; and perhaps the most obvious is that dragonflies hold their wings open while resting and damselflies rest with theirs closed. This episode is specifically about dragonflies, of which there are currently around 3,000 living classified species!

Dragonflies live worldwide with the exception of Antarctica. They’re insects and mostly associated with water, though many species can be found considerably far distances from watery areas. Heck, some dragonflies migrate over 3,000 miles in their lifetimes - rivaling monarch butterflies in insect migrations! Dragonflies can also be seen around parking lots, which may appear like large bodies of water to the insects, or even flying around horses.

There are many myths about the dragonfly’s stinging ability but these bugs don’t really sting. Some female dragonflies who lay their eggs in plant material have a scalpel-like ovipositor, and this egg-laying, tube shaped organ may accidentally be used on human skin which can cause some pain. They may also bite defensively if caught and provoked, but only the largest dragonflies can break through human skin. Dragonflies aren’t out to bite or sting or menace people or other animals like horses. When dragonflies hang out around livestock animals it’s usually because they’re hunting the insects that often swarm these large mammals. In fact, dragonflies can be super beneficial because they’re mosquito eaters!

Both adult and juvenile stage dragonflies are predatory against other arthropods. Young dragonflies live in water and spend their time hunting other insect larvae as well as other animals like frogs and tadpoles. Adult dragonflies take to the air and hunt flying insects that may be more than half their size! These adults have to warm up their wings before they can take to the skies, so they’re often seen basking in a patch of sunlight on a rock, tree, branch, or other surface. Sometimes female dragonflies appear in colors different than the males of their species and in other species they’re similarly hued. Often these bugs can be seen flying during their courtship with the male grasping the female’s head with his rear end. This is called a “mating wheel”.

Depending on the species, dragonfly eggs are laid in water, near water in soil or on plants, or inside plant tissue. The eggs hatch into larvae, which are also known as naiads or nymphs, and live in water. After growing and molting enough times, the young dragonfly will crawl out of the water, usually at night, and shed its exoskeleton one last time before taking flight as an adult. This is done at night to help prevent predation during this vulnerable time, though dragonflies are still eaten by birds, bats, and even each other! Some dragonflies have only a single generation per year, these are usually found in colder areas, while warmer climate dragonflies may have multiple generations in a year. During their larval stage, dragonflies may live up to two year and adult dragonflies typically don’t live more than a year.

For more facts on dragonflies, check out the links in the description. Thank you to Loyen for today’s request! Give a thumbs up if you learned something new today, and thank you for watching Animal Fact Files!