Old and unreliable claims are made that dragonflies such as the southern giant darner can fly up to . However, the greatest reliable flight speed records are for other types of insects. In general, large dragonflies like the hawkers have a maximum speed of with average cruising speed of about . Dragonflies can travel at 100 body-lengths per second in forward flight, and three lengths per second backwards.
Flight speed
Dragonfly
Dragonfly | Flight speed
It can travel at 100 body-lengths per second in forward flight, and three lengths per second backwards. They can travel at 100 body-lengths per second in forward flight, and three lengths per second backwards They can travel at 100 body-lengths per second in forward flight, and three lengths per second backwards. They can travel at 100 body-lengths per second in forward flight, and three lengths per second backwards.
what are the life stages of a dragonfly
user
Dragonflies are hemimetabolous insects; they do not have a pupal stage and undergo an incomplete metamorphosis with a series of nymphal stages from which the adult emerges.
assistant
what are they ?
user
It is an insect belonging to the order Odonata, infraorder Anisoptera.
assistant
any conservation efforts to protect it ?
user
In 1997, the International Union for Conservation of Nature set up a status survey and conservation action plan for dragonflies.
assistant
talk about their coloration ?
user
It is often a combination of yellow, red, brown, and black pigments, with structural colours.
assistant
what are its behavior patterns ?
user
Many dragonflies, particularly males, are territorial. Some defend a territory against others of their own species, some against other species of dragonfly and a few against insects in unrelated groups.
assistant
what about its sex ratios ?
user
The sex ratio of male to female dragonflies varies both temporally and spatially.
assistant
what are their flight speeds ?
user
The sex ratio of male to female dragonflies varies both temporally and spatially. Adult dragonflies have a high male-biased ratio at breeding habitats. The male-bias ratio has contributed partially to the females using different habitats to avoid male harassment. As seen in Hine's emerald dragonfly ("Somatochlora hineana"), male populations use wetland habitats, while females use dry meadows and marginal breeding habitats, only migrating to the wetlands to lay their eggs or to find mating partners. Unwanted mating is energetically costly for females because it affects the amount of time that they are able to spend foraging.
Dragonfly | Sex ratios
Due to the need to fight off other males in order to be more successful in breeding, male dragonflies have developed extensive flight muscles. The majority of male Plathemis lydia dragonflies body mass is accounted for by flight muscle, and is one of the highest flight-muscle ratio (FMR, found by flight-muscle mass/body weight) of an animal. Males with smaller FMRs have a slight decrease in mating success when compared to their counterparts. This decrease in success found in males with a smaller FMR can be contributed to a decrease in the ability to compete in aerial contests. However, a tradeoff must be made in order to have a larger FMR.
Common whitetail | Mating
Old and unreliable claims are made that dragonflies such as the southern giant darner can fly up to . However, the greatest reliable flight speed records are for other types of insects. In general, large dragonflies like the hawkers have a maximum speed of with average cruising speed of about . Dragonflies can travel at 100 body-lengths per second in forward flight, and three lengths per second backwards.
Dragonfly | Flight speed
Males that were found to have the highest FMR had the least amount of gut contents, and in turn less fat reserves. This means that the male dragonflies are making a tradeoff between flight ability and longevity, which may affect long-term mating success. The act of copulation begins with the male clasping the neck of the female. The female then bends her abdomen forward into the secondary genitalia of the male, which is located on the second abdominal segment. Once the female has moved into this position (known as the "wheel position"), the male is able to remove the sperm of any prior mates, and transfer his own sperm to the female.
Common whitetail | Mating
Dragonfly wings behave highly dynamically during flight, flexing and twisting during each beat. Among the variables are wing curvature, length and speed of stroke, angle of attack, forward/back position of wing, and phase relative to the other wings.
Dragonfly | Flight
The wings are powered directly, unlike most families of insects, with the flight muscles attached to the wing bases. Dragonflies have a high power/weight ratio, and have been documented accelerating at 4 G linearly and 9 G in sharp turns while pursuing prey. Dragonflies generate lift in at least four ways at different times, including classical lift like an aircraft wing; supercritical lift with the wing above the critical angle, generating high lift and using very short strokes to avoid stalling; and creating and shedding vortices. Some families appear to use special mechanisms, as for example the Libellulidae which take off rapidly, their wings beginning pointed far forward and twisted almost vertically.
Dragonfly | Flight
The flight period is from April to September but are mostly seen in May and June. Their flight is very fast as they dart and dive above the water. They are very territorial and will fight with rival males and any other dragonflies they happen to encounter. They characteristically return to a favoured perch, in the sun. When a female enters a male's territory the male will fly up and grab the female. Mating occurs on the wing and the pair are in tandem for only a brief period, often less than a minute. The pair separate and the female will find a suitable location for ovipositing, usually a stretch of open water with submerged vegetation.
Libellula depressa | Behaviour
Mating in dragonflies is a complex, precisely choreographed process. First, the male has to attract a female to his territory, continually driving off rival males. When he is ready to mate, he transfers a packet of sperm from his primary genital opening on segment 9, near the end of his abdomen, to his secondary genitalia on segments 2–3, near the base of his abdomen. The male then grasps the female by the head with the claspers at the end of his abdomen; the structure of the claspers varies between species, and may help to prevent interspecific mating. The pair flies in tandem with the male in front, typically perching on a twig or plant stem.
Dragonfly | Reproduction
A female must mate with the territory holder before laying her eggs. There is also conflict between the males and females. Females may sometimes be harassed by males to the extent that it affects their normal activities including foraging and in some dimorphic species females have evolved multiple forms with some forms appearing deceptively like males. In some species females have evolved behavioural responses such as feigning death to escape the attention of males. Similarly, selection of habitat by adult dragonflies is not random, and terrestrial habitat patches may be held for up to 3 months. A species tightly linked to its birth site utilises a foraging area that is several orders of magnitude larger than the birth site.
Dragonfly | Behaviour
Dragonflies are powerful and agile fliers, capable of migrating across the sea, moving in any direction, and changing direction suddenly. In flight, the adult dragonfly can propel itself in six directions: upward, downward, forward, backward, to left and to right. They have four different styles of flight: A number of flying modes are used that include counter-stroking, with forewings beating 180° out of phase with the hindwings, is used for hovering and slow flight. This style is efficient and generates a large amount of lift; phased-stroking, with the hindwings beating 90° ahead of the forewings, is used for fast flight.
Dragonfly | Flight
Several years of their lives are spent as nymphs living in fresh water; the adult stage of some dragonflies may be as long as ten weeks, but most species have an adult lifespan on the order of five weeks or less, and some last only a few days. They are fast, agile fliers, sometimes migrating across oceans, and often live near water. They have a uniquely complex mode of reproduction involving indirect insemination, delayed fertilization, and sperm competition. During mating, the male grasps the female at the back of the head, and the female curls her abdomen under her body to pick up sperm from the male's secondary genitalia at the front of his abdomen, forming the "heart" or "wheel" posture.
Dragonfly | Introduction
If successful, a rival male uses his penis to compress or scrape out the sperm inserted previously; this activity takes up much of the time that a copulating pair remains in the heart posture. Flying in tandem has the advantage that less effort is needed by the female for flight and more can be expended on egg-laying, and when the female submerges to deposit eggs, the male may help to pull her out of the water. Egg-laying takes two different forms depending on the species. The female in some families has a sharp-edged ovipositor with which she slits open a stem or leaf of a plant on or near the water, so she can push her eggs inside.
Dragonfly | Reproduction
The females cannot yet be told apart. The length of this dragonfly is from and the span of the hindwings is .
Brachythemis impartita | Description
As a medium-sized dragonfly "G. flavipes" is 50–55 mm long and with an average wingspan of 70–80 mm. The eyes are widely separated, this is a typical genus-specific feature, males have blue while females have green eyes. Both sexes have predominantly yellow legs and the males has thin angled appendages, while his 10th segment is entirely black dorsally.
Gomphus flavipes | Morphology
The female then curls her abdomen downwards and forwards under her body to pick up the sperm from the male's secondary genitalia, while the male uses his "tail" claspers to grip the female behind the head: this distinctive posture is called the "heart" or "wheel"; the pair may also be described as being "in cop". Egg-laying (ovipositing) involves not only the female darting over floating or waterside vegetation to deposit eggs on a suitable substrate, but also the male hovering above her or continuing to clasp her and flying in tandem. The male attempts to prevent rivals from removing his sperm and inserting their own, something made possible by delayed fertilisation and driven by sexual selection.
Dragonfly | Reproduction
As is usual in the Libellulidae family, there is no distinct courtship ritual. The females may pair many times, but usually only once a day. After mating, the migrant dragonflies fly in tandem, with the female ovipositing while the male remains connected. A clutch consists of about 500 to 2000 eggs. The eggs are spheroid in shape with the semi-major axis 0.5 mm and 0.4 mm at the smallest points. The larvae develop within 38 to 65 days, which allows this migrant dragonfly to reproduce in temporary waters or even in swimming pools. However, the larvae seem to be very sensitive to temperature.
Pantala flavescens | Reproduction and development
This style creates more thrust, but less lift than counter-stroking; synchronised-stroking, with forewings and hindwings beating together, is used when changing direction rapidly, as it maximises thrust; and gliding, with the wings held out, is used in three situations: free gliding, for a few seconds in between bursts of powered flight; gliding in the updraft at the crest of a hill, effectively hovering by falling at the same speed as the updraft; and in certain dragonflies such as darters, when "in cop" with a male, the female sometimes simply glides while the male pulls the pair along by beating his wings.
Dragonfly | Flight
This dragonfly is 24 to 34 millimeters long, with a hindwing 25 to 30 millimeters long. It can be identified by the brown spots at the bases and tips of the wings. The pterostigma is yellow in younger individuals, and red in older. The face is yellow, turning red in older male specimens. The thorax is yellow-brown with a large dark stripe and several smaller brown stripes. The abdomen is dark with paler markings.
Celithemis elisa | Description
It is a small dragonfly with brown capped greenish eyes. Its thorax is greenish yellow and hind-wings usually tinted with yellow from the base. Pterostigma is black in adults bi-colored in juveniles and sub-adults as in females. Its abdomen is pruinosed with light blue, leaving segments 1-3 as yellow. Sub-adult males and females are yellow. The pterostigma of the female are bi-colored with half black and half yellow. It breeds in marshy areas and small pools in the hills.
Palpopleura sexmaculata | Description and habitat
The adult male abdomen measures 21–24 mm and hind wing 24–27 mm. Female abdomen measures 23 mm and hind wing 26–30 mm. The male is a medium-sized scarlet dragonfly with a broad reddish amber patch on the base of transparent wings. The female is similar to the male, but duller in color. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical streams and rivers. It breeds in marshes, ponds, and lakes, and prefers to perch on exposed rocks, dry areas, and boulders in riverbeds.
Trithemis kirbyi | Description and ecology
"Diplacodes bipunctata" is a small to medium-sized dragonfly with a wingspan of about 55 millimeters. The wings are colorless except for a yellowish spot at the base of the hindwing. The male has a bright orange or red abdomen with dark markings along the dorsal line and sides, and the female is yellowish with similar markings. There are two dark spots at the side of the synthorax, one of which is the metastigma.
Diplacodes bipunctata | Description
A large dragonfly (length 61–64 mm; wingspan 87–91 mm). The eyes are green and the face deep yellow to greenish yellow; the upper frons has a central black spot within a yellow ring. The thorax is brown with green stripes, and the abdomen green with brown markings. The wings are slightly smoky with brown and yellow veins and reddish-brown to yellow-brown pterostigmata.
Pinheyschna subpupillata | Description
The flight period extends from April to mid October, but this dragonfly is more common in late summer. Adults feed on soft-bodied flying insects. After mating females usually fly in tandem with males during oviposition, performed in flight by dipping the tip of the abdomen into the water. Larvae live in aquatic vegetation. They feed on many different aquatic insects (mosquito larvae, mayfly larvae, other fly larvae, small fish and tadpoles).
Band-winged meadowhawk | Biology and behavior
The female mates once and stores all the sperm she needs for fertilization. If she should mate again, the second male will remove the sperm of the first male from her body with the brush-like apparatus on his specially-adapted penis. The larvae of the dragonflies hatch and eat anything they can catch, favoring a carnivorous diet of organisms smaller than themselves. Adults of the species, especially males, congregate in swarms. Some populations of this dragonfly undertake migrations. Both the larvae and adult forms are efficient predators of mosquitoes, so they are a helpful insect to have in wet areas where mosquito infestations occur.
Black saddlebags | Introduction
In other families such as clubtails (Gomphidae), cruisers (Macromiidae), emeralds (Corduliidae), and skimmers (Libellulidae), the female lays eggs by tapping the surface of the water repeatedly with her abdomen, by shaking the eggs out of her abdomen as she flies along, or by placing the eggs on vegetation. In a few species, the eggs are laid on emergent plants above the water, and development is delayed until these have withered and become immersed.
Dragonfly | Reproduction
The adults of "Onychogomphus forcipatus" grow up to long, with a wingspan of . The eyes of these medium sized dragonflies are widely separated and grey-to-green. The two black lines on the side of the thorax are relatively narrow and touch the midline. It has a yellow line on the vertex and two cells above the anal triangle. The abdomen in males is fitted with three hooks of large size (anal appendages). Cercoids may be dark and have a subterminal tooth. The base of the hindwing is angled in males and rounded in females. This species is rather similar to "Onychogomphus uncatus".
Onychogomphus forcipatus | Description
It is a medium sized red dragonfly with extremely long anal appendages. It can be distinguished from other species of this genus by the dark-brown hind-wing patch, not surrounded by a golden yellow areola, in the base. Female is similar to male; but may be red as the male or yellowish in color. This species reproduces in open pools, ponds and in grassy marshes. Adults are often found in bushy areas and around woodlands around them. This dragonfly is commonly seen patrolling over water bodies and open space in sunny days. Pairs in copula or in tandem can also sometimes be seen flying low above water bodies.
Tramea limbata | Description and habitat
"G. flavipes", as all dragonflies, are predators; they capture smaller insect in flight. Imagos are rarely seen, the easiest way to observe them is in the mating period or during the emergence of young adults. Mating usually takes place in June or July. During the day adult males search for females, far from the riverbank, in low altitude above the waterfront. If they successfully catch a female copulation takes place in the shelter of water edge willows. After fertilization females fly 20–30 cm above the water and lay eggs (one at a time or in a small packets) into the water.
Gomphus flavipes | Behaviour and life cycle
It is a medium-sized dragonfly with brown capped eyes, greenish brown thorax and bluish abdomen. Female lacks the powder blue pruinescence. It prefers medium to slow-flowing streams in the dry zones and hot plains. Adults are common around open rocky and sandy beds of the streams.
Orthetrum taeniolatum | Description and habitat
It breeds in streams in forest or at its margins. This is a very fast flying dragonfly of forested streams. Males usually perch on dry twigs and other similar vantage points over streams and aggressively chase other dragonflies entering their territory.
Onychothemis testacea | Habitat
"Hemigomphus comitatus" is a small dragonfly with black and yellow markings. Its wingspan is 50-55mm and overall length is 40-45mm. The eyes of the adult are green and do not meet at the top of the head. The head of the female has a spine from the occiput just behind the eyes. The synthorax is strongly marked with black and yellow stripes, with the humeral stripe usually being continuous. A black mark along the suture of the synthorax is usually broken above and below the metastigma. The abdomen is black with prominent yellow bands, the appendages of the male are yellow and curve inwards at the tip.
Hemigomphus comitatus | Description
The scarce chaser ("Libellula fulva") is a species of dragonfly. The adult male has a bright blue abdomen with patches of black, while the adult female and juvenile male each have a bright orange abdomen. It is about 45 mm in length with an average wingspan of 74 mm. It is distributed throughout Europe. This dragonfly is considered a species of special concern in Great Britain due to loss of its specific ideal habitat. This species lives on floodplains and marshes with dense, abundant vegetation, and females deposit their eggs in slow-current streams. Once deposited by the female, the eggs lie embedded in the mud of the riverbed and the larvae develop underwater for usually two years.
Scarce chaser | Introduction
Dragonflies and damselflies are predatory both in the aquatic nymphal and adult stages. Nymphs feed on a range of freshwater invertebrates and larger ones can prey on tadpoles and small fish. Adults capture insect prey in the air, making use of their acute vision and highly controlled flight. The mating system of dragonflies is complex and they are among the few insect groups that have a system of indirect sperm transfer along with sperm storage, delayed fertilization, and sperm competition. Adult males vigorously defend territories near water; these areas provide suitable habitat for the larvae to develop, and for females to lay their eggs.
Dragonfly | Ecology
The nymphs moult repeatedly, at the last moult climbing out of the water to undergo metamorphosis. The skin splits down the back, they emerge and inflate their wings and abdomen to gain their adult form. Their presence on a body of water indicates that it is relatively unpolluted, but their dependence on freshwater makes them vulnerable to damage to their wetland habitats. Some species of damselfly have elaborate courtship behaviours. Many species are sexually dimorphic, the males often being more brightly coloured than the females. Like dragonflies, they reproduce using indirect insemination and delayed fertilisation. A mating pair form a shape known as a "heart" or "wheel", the male clasping the female at the back of the head, the female curling her abdomen down to pick up sperm from secondary genitalia at the base of the male's abdomen.
Damselfly | Introduction
"Crocothemis erythraea" can reach a length of . These dragonflies haves a flattened and rather broad abdomen. The adult male scarlet dragonfly has a bright scarlet red, widened abdomen, with small amber patches at the bases of the hindwings. Also the veins on the leading edges of the wings are red. Females and immatures are yellow-brown and have a conspicuous pale stripe along the top of the thorax.
Scarlet dragonfly | Description
In most large species of dragonflies, the wings of females are shorter and broader than those of males. The legs are rarely used for walking, but are used to catch and hold prey, for perching, and for climbing on plants. Each has two short basal joints, two long joints, and a three-jointed foot, armed with a pair of claws. The long leg joints bear rows of spines, and in males, one row of spines on each front leg is modified to form an "eyebrush", for cleaning the surface of the compound eye.
Dragonfly | General description
The Dragonfly was capable of maintaining level flight at speeds as low as , and was claimed as being capable of landing in a distance shorter than the length of the aircraft itself.
Ryan YO-51 Dragonfly | Design
Dragonflies (suborder Anisoptera) are heavy-bodied, strong-flying insects that hold their wings horizontally both in flight and at rest. By contrast, damselflies (suborder Zygoptera) have slender bodies and fly more weakly; most species fold their wings over the abdomen when stationary, and the eyes are well separated on the sides of the head. An adult dragonfly has three distinct segments, the head, thorax, and abdomen as in all insects. It has a chitinous exoskeleton of hard plates held together with flexible membranes. The head is large with very short antennae. It is dominated by the two compound eyes, which cover most of its surface.
Dragonfly | General description
When they first emerge, both sexes appear pale green with brown markings. The legs are brown with a yellow like base. Wings are born black but grow yellow-brown with age. Males have a sky blue abdomen marked with a diagnostic black dorsal stripe and an apple green thorax. The thorax and head of a male is green and their prominent eyes are blue. Females have similar markings but they are mainly green.
Emperor (dragonfly) | Identification
The flight muscles need to be kept at a suitable temperature for the dragonfly to be able to fly. Being cold-blooded, they can raise their temperature by basking in the sun. Early in the morning, they may choose to perch in a vertical position with the wings outstretched, while in the middle of the day, a horizontal stance may be chosen. Another method of warming up used by some larger dragonflies is wing-whirring, a rapid vibration of the wings that causes heat to be generated in the flight muscles. The green darner ("Anax junius") is known for its long-distance migrations, and often resorts to wing-whirring before dawn to enable it to make an early start.
Dragonfly | Temperature control
The female flies with the male still attached after mating (a position called "in tandem") and lays her eggs near the shoreline of lakes and ponds by dipping the tip of her abdomen on the surface of the water. Large-mouth bass ("Micropterus salmoides") have been observed following mated pairs of dragonflies as they fly just above the surface, and then eating them as they touch the surface to lay eggs.
Sympetrum vicinum | Reproduction
The male and female have a broad, flattened abdomen which is brown with yellow patches down the sides. In the male the abdomen develops a blue pruinosity that covers the brown colour. Both fore and hind wings have a dark patch at the base. Both the male and female have broad antehumeral stripes. The average wingspan is approximately 70 mm. "L. depressa" is very distinctive and should not be confused with any other dragonflies in the region.
Libellula depressa | Identification
Due to the need for the female to enter the wheel position, males cannot force themselves onto females. Post mating, male Plathemis lydia dragonflies will perform "non-contact mate-guarding throughout oviposition". During this time, the male dragonflies will hover roughly 0.5-1m away from their mate, and chase off any rival males that may be attempting to mate with the female. The intensity at which males guard females is positively correlated with the frequency of male harassment that occurs during the oviposition. However, males tend to guard less intensely over the course of the oviposition process, and will stop guarding entirely once it has finished.
Common whitetail | Mating
Many damselflies have elaborate courtship behaviours. These are designed to show off the male's distinctive characteristics, bright colouring or flying abilities, thus demonstrating his fitness. "Calopteryx" males will hover in front of a female with alternating fast and slow wingbeats; if she is receptive she will remain perched, otherwise she will fly off. The male river jewelwing ("Calopteryx aequabilis") performs display flights in front of the female, fluttering his forewings while keeping his hindwings still, and raising his abdomen to reveal the white spots on his wings. "Platycypha" males will hover in front of a female, thrusting their bright white legs forward in front of their heads.
Damselfly | Behaviour
It is a medium sized dragonfly with thorax black on dorsum, and yellow on the sides. There is a slightly oblique ante-humeral stripe and two narrow parallel black stripes on the sutures enclosing an equally narrow yellow line. Abdomen is black, marked with yellow. Segment 1 has a large spot on the dorsum and the sides. Segment 2 has a mid-dorsal spot. Segment 3 to 7 have basal rings, narrow on 3 to 6, occupying the basal half on segment 7. Segment 8 to 10 are unmarked. Anal appendages are yellow, black on the base. This species is found in banks of montane forest streams where it breeds.
Davidioides martini | Description and habitat
The wings vary in size, shape, width and coloration. The clear uncoloured apices of wings will help to distinguish it from other red Asian dragonflies.
Neurothemis fulvia | Description
The adults have metallic bodies; their wings are broader, with wider bases than other damselflies, and at rest hold their wings parallel to the body, slightly elevated. Some species have conspicuously colored wings; in males, the wings are usually blue, without pterostigmas, in females green or brown. Species are often quite variable in color and patterning, and they are sexually dimorphic. Color intensity may fade with age. The wings are heavily veined, having often 18 or more antenodal veins. The first segment of their antennae is longer than the combined length of the other segments. They have a jerky, skipping form of flight (fluttering, rather than hovering stably like many other damselfly and dragonfly families).
Calopterygidae | Characteristics
"Diplacodes nebulosa" is a very small and slender dragonfly. Males have a black abdomen and black wing tips; females are yellow and black, and their wings can be hyaline, or with an orange base, or, like the male, have black tips. It prefers marshes and heavily weeded ponds.
Diplacodes nebulosa | Description and habitat
It is a medium-sized rusty dragonfly with transparent wing tips. Male has a reddish-brown face with eyes which are dark reddish brown above, golden brown below. Thorax, abdomen and legs are reddish brown. Wings are dark reddish brown with an irregular triangular transparent area at the tip of the wing. The wing spots are dark reddish brown. Many forms of females are found. Color of head, thorax and abdomen paler than males or rusty brown. Wings are clear amber yellow with a dark ray extending to the tip in fore wing. Many of them have an irregular triangular transparent area at the tip of the wing.
Neurothemis fulvia | Description
They are often seen flying leisurely over mountain streams or a river; they also occasionally show up at a pond. They are also typically seen flying over heath land. Their bright yellow and black stripes make them easy to identify, even from a fair distance away. They feed mainly on insects ranging from small prey such as midges to flies, butterflies and even bumblebees. This strikingly-coloured insect is incredibly aerobatic and they sometimes fly very high up into the sky.
Golden-ringed dragonfly | Behaviour
An adult male "Macrodiplax cora" is a medium-sized dragonfly (length 45mm, wingspan 75mm) with a red abdomen, dorsally marked with black patches on each segment. The female abdomen is less brightly colored. The synthorax is a brownish color and may be hirsute. The wings are clear except for a yellowish patch at the base of the hind wing. Its bi-colored legs and hourglass shaped black patches on the abdominal segments will help to easily distinguish them from other red colored dragonflies.
Macrodiplax cora | Description
Males can be observed flying in a nearly vertical orientation; their antennae held forward and stiff while their legs are held toward the body during patrolling. They also show an obvious gaze shift towards the last female flash, and continue towards it until the female firefly flashes again. The flashes continue until the male reaches the female. Males congregate in large masses and it is most likely that more than one will find the same female; in this case male "P. pyralis" display aggression towards one another while not in flight. During the “aggression” stage, males with smaller elytra and smaller lanterns are favored; whereas during the signaling phase, males with longer elytra and bigger lanterns are favoured.
Photinus pyralis | Mating
Gynacantha sextans is a species of dragonfly in the family Aeshnidae. It is found in Angola, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria, Uganda, and Zambia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and shrub-dominated wetlands.
Gynacantha sextans | Introduction
It is a yellowish red dragonfly with reddish brown eyes. It has a broad basal amber-yellow marking at base of all wings. Its abdomen is reddish with a ventro-lateral brownish stripe interrupted at apical end of segments 3 to 8. Young males and females are more yellowish red. It is more common at sea level all along the coast but becoming rare in the hills.
Neurothemis intermedia | Description and habitat
They are easily identified by their distinctive black and yellow stripes, which no other dragonfly in the United Kingdom has. A very large species, males average 74 mm and the larger females 84 mm. Wingspan is up to 101 mm.
Golden-ringed dragonfly | Identification
Family Calopterygidae (demoiselles) Family Lestidae (emerald damselflies or spreadwings) Family Coenagrionidae (blue, blue-tailed and red damselflies)
List of dragonflies of Menorca | Suborder <a href="Damselfly">Zygoptera (damselflies)</a>
In high-speed territorial battles between male Australian emperors ("Hemianax papuensis"), the fighting dragonflies adjust their flight paths to appear stationary to their rivals, minimizing the chance of being detected as they approach. To achieve the effect, the attacking dragonfly flies towards his rival, choosing his path to remain on a line between the rival and the start of his attack path. The attacker thus looms larger as he closes on the rival, but does not otherwise appear to move. Researchers found that six of 15 encounters involved motion camouflage.
Dragonfly | Motion camouflage
The dragonfly is up to 4.5 cm long, reaching wingspans between 7.2 cm and 8.4 cm. The front side of the head is yellowish to reddish. The thorax is usually yellow to golden coloured with a dark and hairy line. There were also specimens with a brown or olive thorax. The abdomen has a similar colour as the thorax. The wings are clear and very broad at the base. There, too, there are some specimens with olive, brown and yellow wings. On Easter Island there are wandering gliders with black wings. The pterostigma turns yellowish. The transparent wings may turn a yellowish shade towards the tip.
Pantala flavescens | Structure of the adult
A dragonfly is an insect belonging to the order Odonata, infraorder Anisoptera (from Greek ἄνισος "anisos", "unequal" and πτερόν "pteron", "wing", because the hindwing is broader than the forewing). Adult dragonflies are characterized by large, multifaceted eyes, two pairs of strong, transparent wings, sometimes with coloured patches, and an elongated body. Dragonflies can be mistaken for the related group, damselflies (Zygoptera), which are similar in structure, though usually lighter in build; however, the wings of most dragonflies are held flat and away from the body, while damselflies hold the wings folded at rest, along or above the abdomen. Dragonflies are agile fliers, while damselflies have a weaker, fluttery flight.
Dragonfly | Introduction
It is a medium sized dragonfly with red eyes, thorax and abdomen. But young males and females have a mid-dorsal citron-yellow stripe in the pro-thorax and a citron-yellow stripe on mid-dorsum of the abdominal segments. These marks get obscured by pruinescence in adult males. Color of female is brown. It breeds in open ponds, marshes and lakes.
Rhodothemis rufa | Description and habitat
It is a large dragonfly with its head rather broad from side to side and eyes are moderately separated with emerald green colour. Its thorax is black with three oblique bright yellow stripes. Its wings are transparent with dark brown apices and black pterostigma. Abdomen is black with yellow markings. The colour and markings of the female is very similar to the male. It is commonly found in mountains in the Western Ghats, soaring in high altitudes. The species is named after .
Chlorogomphus campioni | Description and habitat
It is a medium sized dragonfly with brown-capped greenish-yellow eyes. Its thorax is black on dorsum, yellow on sides. There is a thick black oblique stripe on the posterior half of mesepimeron and postero-lateral suture. Wings are transparent, tinted with amber-yellow at base. Abdomen is blood-red, marked with black. Segment 1 is narrowly bordered with ochreous yellow. Segments 2 and 3 are ochreous laterally. All segments have very narrow black borders. Segments 3 to 9 has a narrow mid-dorsal black stripe, faded in adults. Segment 10 is entirely black. Anal appendages are dark reddish-brown. Female is similar to the male; but its thorax is coppery-brown and segments 3 to 8 with mid-dorsal carina rather broadly black.
Lyriothemis tricolor | Description
"Lestes congener" can reach a length of in males, while females are smaller, reaching a length of . In the western part of their range, these dragonflies are somewhat larger than in the eastern part. The thorax is slaty gray dorsally, with two dark elongated spots (hence the common name) on the latero-ventral surface. The eyes are blue in males, while in the females they are always brown. The abdomen is greyish to blackish with bronze reflections, the last two segments of the abdomen are pale gray. The wings are clear and transparent. Like other damselflies of the family Lestidae they hold their wings at about 45 degrees to the body when resting.
Lestes congener | Description
Male: Key features for identification of the males are the shape of the cerci (appendages at the end of the abdomen of males) and the pattern of the markings on the thorax. The ends of the cerci diverge, and they are thick and truncate. In southern Africa (south of 15°S), the shape of the cerci separate this species from other dragonflies.
Paragomphus cognatus | Identification
However, she then allows the male to come closer and place his mandibles over her wings in a perpendicular position, a position he holds until the female signals reception to mating. At least in "Protohermes", during copulation the male attaches to the female's genitalia a large, globular spermatophore about 4 mm long and wide. The spermatophore consists of two parts: a large gelatinous mass, and a smaller seminal duct containing the sperm. After copulation, the female proceeds to spread her legs wide apart, curl the abdomen under the chest, and eat the gelatinous part of the spermatophore. Oviposition occurs along rocky walls of streams at night, from May to September in "Corydalus".
Dobsonfly | Life cycle
The thorax bears two pairs of wings and three pairs of legs. The wings are long, veined, and membranous, narrower at the tip and wider at the base. The hindwings are broader than the forewings and the venation is different at the base. The veins carry haemolymph, which is analogous to blood in vertebrates and carries out many similar functions, but which also serves a hydraulic function to expand the body between nymphal stages (instars) and to expand and stiffen the wings after the adult emerges from the final nymphal stage. The leading edge of each wing has a node where other veins join the marginal vein, and the wing is able to flex at this point.
Dragonfly | General description
It is a crepuscular dragonfly, active in the dusk. This species can be easily distinguished by the multicolored upper surface of frons and by the shape and relative lengths of the anal appendages. Its labium and labrum are golden-yellow and face and frons are greenish yellow and eyes are green, bluish when aged. Its thorax is pale olivaceous brown with dark brown sutures. Its segment two of the abdomen is turquoise blue. Segment three has a large blue patch at each side. Segments 4 to 9 have an irregular black middorsal stripe. Segment 10 is black.
Anax parthenope | Description
It is a large reddish-brown dragonfly with golden-amber tinted wings. Eyes are reddish-brown above, yellowish below. Its thorax is ohvaceous suffused with golden reddish-brown, Its base of hind-wings have a moderately broad dark reddish-brown mark. Abdomen is olivaceous, changing to ochreous towards anal end, marked with black. Segments 4 to 9 have apical and basal dorsal black wedge-shaped spots. It breeds in weedy ponds and lakes. The male is often seen patrolling over water, and rarely perches. When perched, they prefer to hang vertically on twigs inside dense shrubbery.
Hydrobasileus croceus | Description and habitat
The flight period is all year. They have been described as having a medium-fast, random flight pattern or as a rather weak, slow flying butterfly. They keep to open areas in riverine forest and thick bush or the edges of bush areas. Both sexes feed from flowers and are greatly attracted to flowering bushes exposed to the sun.
Dixeia pigea | Adults
"Chalcostephia flavifrons" is a fairly small species of dragonfly, with a hind-wing length of . The mature adult male is a bluish-grey colour and pruinose (covered with a dusting of wax particles on top of the cuticle). The adult female and the newly emerged male are dark with bold yellow banding. Both males and females can be distinguished from other similar species by their yellow face contrasting with the flattened, metallic green frons (front of the head). The membranous, veined wings are transparent except for the pterostigmata, a small group of thickened cells at the leading edge of the wing-tips, which have pale centres and dark edges.
Chalcostephia | Description
It is a medium sized dragonfly with yellowish white face and blue eyes. Its thorax is yellowish green with some brown stripes. Its wings are transparent, including the base. Its abdomen is pruinosed with azure blue up to the last segments. In old adults, thorax will also get pruinosed, obscuring whole the marks. Females and young males are yellowish green. They breed in marshes and swampy areas in the plains.
Orthetrum luzonicum | Description and habitat
"Orthetrum testaceum" can reach a body length of about , with an hindwing of (in males). In these large dragonflies the thorax of adult males is orange-brown, with a vermilion red abdomen. The eyes are light brownish. The wings are smoky transparent, with an amber patch at the base. In adult females and in recently emerged males body is olive-green to brown in colour with black markings and a clear base of the hindwings. These dragonflies are rather similar to "Orthetrum chrysis", but "O. testaceum" is much reddish, whilew "O. chrysis" has a reddish brown thorax.
Orthetrum testaceum | Description
"Orthetrum coerulescens" can reach a body length of . These dragonflies have a thorax with pale yellow ante-humeral stripes. In the males the color of these stripes fades with age. The abdomen is rather slim and shows an evident dorsal keel. Males have blue-grey eyes and a blue pruinescence on the abdomen, developed with age. Young males are yellow-brown. On the contrary some (androchrome) females at the end of the reproductive cycle assume the bluish color of the male. In the female the abdomen is yellowish-brown, with a thin median black line and small transverse lines to the connections of the various segments.
Keeled skimmer | Description
The abdomen is swollen where it joins the body, then forms a distinctive waist of about 2 mm at segment 3. This waist is about half the width of segment 2, the segment closer to the main body. Beyond the waist, the abdomen tapers to the end. The second segment of the abdomen on a male has light green auricles, miniature ear-like projections on each side. At the tip of their tails male dragonflies of the genus "Gynacantha" have a distinctive pair of long, slim, anal appendages with fine hairs on their inner sides. These hold the female during mating.
Gynacantha rosenbergi | Abdomen
The imago (adult stage) has a large head, well-developed, compound eyes, legs that facilitate catching prey (largely other insects) in flight, two pairs of long, transparent wings that move independently, and an elongated abdomen. Many Odonata are relatively large insects, but wingspans range from 17 mm (some "Agriocnemis" damselflies) to 191 mm (helicopter damselfly "Megaloprepus coerulatus". The largest dragonflies have a wingspan of up to 160 mm, but they are much more massive than any damselfly.
External morphology of Odonata | Imago
It is a large dragonfly with bottle-green eyes. Its thorax is black; marked with bright greenish-yellow stripes. Abdomen is black, marked with bright citron-yellow. Segment 1 has a small apical dorsal triangle and the whole of the sides. Segment 2 has a dorsal and a lateral stripe, broad at the base. Segment 3 has a dorsal stripe and a lateral wedge-shaped spot at the base. Segments 4 and 5 have a chain of three dorsal spots. Segment 6 has a single baso-dorsal spo. Segment 7 has more than the basal half yellow. Segments 8 and 9 have small lateral basal triangular spots.
Megalogomphus hannyngtoni | Description and habitat
It is a fairly large dragonfly (the length of 47–53 mm, 29–35 mm abdomen, rear wing 35–41 mm.) with relatively broad, flattened abdomen, but not as broad as to chaser species. With age, adult males develop extensive blue pruinescence on their abdomen, offset by yellow lateral patches. The middle lobe of the pronotum is large and notched in the middle. The chest is yellow or yellowish-brown. The base of the hind wings do not show a dark opaque spots. The pterostigma is dark brown or black. On the front wings pterostigma 2–3 mm long. Anal appendages are black. The females and immature males are a deep yellow color, with wavy black lines dorsally on their abdomen.
Black-tailed skimmer | Description
Before reproduction can occur, a male must first establish a territory. These territories range from 2–4 meters in area and sit close to bodies of water. Male dragonflies patrol these areas and defend them from dragonflies of both their own and other species. Females initiate mating by flying into a male’s territory. A male responds to this behavior by chasing after the female. Once the male reaches the female, he latches onto her body. The two then fly to nearby shrubs, and copulation begins. Post-copulation, the female repeatedly dips her abdomen into shallow water. In doing so, she deposits her fertilized eggs.
Hine's emerald | Reproduction
Flight period of these insects lasts from June to October, with some specimen visible in May and November. The adults of the southern hawker feed on various insects, caught on the wing. This is an inquisitive species and will approach people. These dragonflies breed in still or slow-flowing water. The males are often seen patrolling by a ponds edge or river, where they fight away intruders, crashing into rival males and spiralling through the air. The females are quite inconspicuous when they lay their eggs, but they sometimes give away their spot by clattering up from the reeds. The eggs are laid by jabbing the abdomen into rotting vegetation or wood.
Southern hawker | Biology and behavior
Mating in damselflies, as in dragonflies, is a complex, precisely choreographed process involving both indirect insemination and delayed fertilisation. The male first has to attract a female to his territory, continually driving off rival males. When he is ready to mate, he transfers a packet of sperm from his primary genital opening on segment 9, near the end of his abdomen, to his secondary genitalia on segments 2–3, near the base of his abdomen. The male then grasps the female by the head with the claspers at the end of his abdomen; the structure of the claspers varies between species, and may help to prevent interspecific mating.
Damselfly | Reproduction
It is a small dragonfly with brown-capped greenish-yellow eyes. Its thorax is blackish brown, marked with yellow. There is a broad oval antehumeral (situated in front of the fore legs) stripe and a short transverse stripe bordering it just below. Laterally there are three stripes. The wings are transparent, and palely tinted with yellow at the extreme base. The abdomen in the male is blood-red, tapered from base to end, and marked with black. Segment 1 is black, with its apical border narrowly red. Segment 2 has its base broadly black and apical border less so. Segments 3 to 8 have the borders narrowly black and the mid-dorsal carina broadly so.
Lyriothemis acigastra | Description
It is a medium sized red dragonfly with extremely long anal appendages. It can be distinguished from other species of this genus by the two brownish black hind-wing patch surrounded by a golden yellow areola in the base. Female is similar to male; but yellowish in color. This species is found at pools, ponds, marshes, lakes and water tanks. Typical reproducing habitats are grassy marshes and ponds, but this species may be found anywhere during migrations. They are seen in tireless soaring flight in sunny days, sometimes in conspecific groups or in mixed groups of other soaring dragonflies like "Pantala flavescens" or "Hydrobasileus croceus".
Tramea basilaris | Description and habitat
It is a medium sized dragonfly with bottle-green eyes. Its thorax is black on dorsum, and greenish-yellow on sides. There is a complete yellow meso-thoracic collar and short yellow ante-humeral stripes parallel to the mid-dorsal carina. Abdomen is black, marked with pale greenish-yellow. There is a narrow mid-dorsal stripe extending from segment 1 to 5. There is a large lateral spot on segment 1 and 2 and small baso-lateral spots on 3 to 6. Segment 7 has a ring on its basal third and a dorsal spot on segment 8. Remaining segments are entirely black. Superior anal appendages are black at base, pale green to yellow at the apices.
Heliogomphus promelas | Description and habitat
It is a medium-sized dragonfly with dark thorax with slight purple pruinescence and purple colored abdomen. Young males have red abdomen as in "Orthetrum chrysis". Females of both species look similar. It breeds in ponds, lakes and sluggish streams.
Orthetrum pruinosum | Description and habitat
The forewing is usually more slender and slightly longer than the hindwing. Unlike the true dragonflies, the Odonata, they had no pterostigma, and a somewhat simpler pattern of veins in the wings. Most specimens are known from wing fragments only; with only a few as complete wings, and even fewer (of the family Meganeuridae) with body impressions. These show a globose head with large dentate mandibles, strong spiny legs, a large thorax, and long and slender dragonfly-like abdomen. Like true dragonflies, they were presumably predators. A few nymphs are also known, and show mouthparts similar to those of modern dragonfly nymphs, suggesting that they were also active aquatic predators.
Meganisoptera | Introduction
It is a dragonfly of wet forests, usually perches on fallen logs and shrubs. A large number of them can be found together in canopy gaps and forest edges. It breeds in marshes associated with forest streams, marshes and ponds.
Neurothemis fulvia | Distribution and Habitat
It is a small dragonfly with dark reddish-brown eyes. Its thorax is dark chocolate-brown on dorsum and humeral region, paling on sides. Wings are transparent, tinted with deep golden-amber at base. Abdomen and anal appendages are bright red. Female is similar to the male; but greenish-yellow in colors. It breeds in weedy ponds and lakes.
Aethriamanta brevipennis | Description and habitat
Unlike classical pursuit, in which the predator aims for the current position of their prey, dragonflies predict the prey's direction of motion, as in parallel navigation. Perching dragonflies (Libellulidae family), have been observed "staking out" high density prey spots prior to pursuit. There are no noticeable distinctions in prey capture efficiency between males and females. Further, percher dragonflies are bound by their visual range. They are more likely to engage in pursuit when prey come within a subtended angle of around 1-2 degrees. Angles greater than this are outside of a dragonflies visual range.
Pursuit predation | Invertebrates
It is a small dragonfly with yellow face and bluish green eyes. Its thorax and abdomen are yellow with broad black marks. Its wings are transparent, with fore-wings faintly and hind-wings broadly tinted with yellow in base. Females are similar to males. It breeds in vegetated ponds and wells. Female stabs eggs on dry twigs hanging over water. The eggs hatch out in rains and the larvae fall directly into the water below.
Tetrathemis platyptera | Description and habitat
Unlike other insects, the wing muscles of the Ephemeroptera (mayflies) and Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) insert directly at the wing bases, which are hinged so that a small movement of the wing base downward, lifts the wing itself upward, very much like rowing through the air. Dragonflies and damselflies have fore and hind wings similar in shape and size. Each operates independently, which gives a degree of fine control and mobility in terms of the abruptness with which they can change direction and speed, not seen in other flying insects. This is not surprising, given that odonates are all aerial predators, and they have always hunted other airborne insects.
Insect flight | Direct flight
Every few days, female "Plathemis lydia" dragonflies will go to ponds in order to lay their eggs, also known as ovipost. Male dragonflies that are defending mating territories at the ponds will then attempt to mate with the female dragonflies. While the females are at the pond to ovipost, they will actively discriminate against the males attempting to mate with them, rejecting up to 48.9% of all mating attempts. The females prefer to ovipost in the middle of the day, and will actively look for particular parts of the pond to find a more suitable place to lay their eggs.
Common whitetail | Mating
The compound eyes are made up of ommatidia, the numbers being greater in the larger species. "Aeshna interrupta" has 22650 ommatidia of two varying sizes, 4500 being large. The facets facing downward tend to be smaller. "Petalura gigantea" has 23890 ommatidia of just one size. These facets provide complete vision in the frontal hemisphere of the dragonfly. The compound eyes meet at the top of the head (except in the Petaluridae and Gomphidae, as also in the genus "Epiophlebia"). Also, they have three simple eyes or ocelli. The mouthparts are adapted for biting with a toothed jaw; the flap-like labrum, at the front of the mouth, can be shot rapidly forward to catch prey.
Dragonfly | General description
It is a medium sized dragonfly with emerald-green eyes. Its thorax is metallic green with a golden reflex. There is no humeral stripe; but an oblique citron-yellow stripe bordering the antero-lateral suture, and a similar stripe on the lower posterior border of metepimeron. Beneath the side is blackish, striped with yellow. Abdomen is black. The borders of segment 2 ventrally yellow, and also a narrow incomplete annule on the apical border. Anal appendages are black. The male is easily distinguished by the shape of its anal appendages, and the female by the unique shape of its vesicle. Fraser (1936) states that most of the specimens were observed flying quite low over coffee bushes or along the borders of ferny banks.
Idionyx galeata | Description and habitat
It is a large dragonfly with greenish-yellow eyes. Its thorax is olivaceous-brown, paler on sides. Wings are transparent with an amber-yellow patch. Abdomen is ochreous, marked with azure-blue and reddish-brown. Segment 2 is blue on dorsum and pale green on the sides. Segments 3 to 7 are olivaceous-yellow with irregular reddish-brown stripes on mid-dorsum and narrow black apical annules. There is a broad mid-dorsal blackish-brown stripe on segments 8 and 9, enclosing a pair of triangular yellow apical spots. Segment 10 is bright yellow, with its base and mid-dorsum broadly black. Female is similar to the male. Its natural habitats are shrub-dominated wetlands, swamps, freshwater lakes, intermittent freshwater lakes, freshwater marshes, intermittent freshwater marshes, and freshwater springs.
Anax ephippiger | Description and habitat
The general body plan of a damselfly is similar to that of a dragonfly. The compound eyes are large but are more widely separated and relatively smaller than those of a dragonfly. Above the eyes is the frons or forehead, below this the clypeus, and on the upper lip the labrum, an extensible organ used in the capture of prey. The top of the head bears three simple eyes (ocelli), which may measure light intensity, and a tiny pair of antennae that serve no olfactory function but may measure air speed. Many species are sexually dimorphic; the males are often brightly coloured and distinctive, while the females are plainer, cryptically coloured, and harder to identify to species.
Damselfly | General description
The ruddy darter can reach a body length of and attains a wingspan of up to 6 cm. These dragonflies are smaller than the Common Darter. They have black legs and the wings show a brown pterostigma and an orange color at the base of the wings. Two evident black marks are located on segments S8 and S9 of the abdomen. The head, thorax and abdomen of the mature male are vivid red, while the female is slightly smaller, and is a golden-yellow colour with black markings. The blood-red color of the males develop with maturity, together with a red frons and a red-brown thorax.
Ruddy darter | Description
"Aeshna cyanea" can reach a body length of about , with a wingspan up to . It is a large, brightly coloured dragonfly, with a long body. The thorax is brown, with two ante-humeral wide green longitudinal stripes. On the forehead there is a black spot in the form of the letter T. The wings are hyaline with a dark pterostigma. The leading edge of the wings is dark. Males have a dark abdomen with bright apple green markings, except for the last segments S8-10 of the abdomen, where the markings are pale blue and joined. In the females, the abdomen is brownish with bright green markings.
Southern hawker | Description
Segment 8 is dark reddish-brown changing to black on dorsum. Segment 9 is similar but with the lateral spot much larger and brighter yellow. Segment 10 is reddish-brown. Anal appendages are reddish-brown, paler at base. It differs from "Megalogomphus hannyngtoni" by the red medial markings of abdominal segments 3 to 6, by the occiput being yellow instead of black and the face less black, and by the presence of a humeral stripes. This dragonfly perches on twigs, shrubs, and boulders in hill streams. It breeds in fast flowing forested hill streams.
Megalogomphus superbus | Description and habitat
Males frequently bask in the sun, on open ground. The flight action is rather skittish resembling the ruddy darter ("Sympetrum sanguineum"). Males are not territorial, but actively seek out females. This species is the smallest of Britain’s dragonflies. Although not as colourful as some other dragonflies it is a lovely dragonfly to watch. They often perch on a sunny spot on the ground. Their flight is a little skittish, and often flies away as you approach, but sometimes it is in a 'friendly mood' and lets you get very close. Sometimes they may even land on an observer’s hand.
Sympetrum danae | Behaviour
It is a small dragonfly with brown-capped yellowish-green eyes. Its thorax is olivaceous-brown, marked with a reddish-brown humeral stripe and two brownish stripes on each side. Wings are transparent; but with a broad bright orange fascia extending from base to within 2 to 3 cells of reddish pterostigma. Abdomen is ochreous-red, marked with dorsal and sub-dorsal brown stripes. Anal appendages are in reddish-brown. Female is similar to the male; but in pale yellowish-green color. Wings are transparent, tinted with yellow at extreme base;, but the bright orange fascia seen in the male absent. It breeds in weedy ponds, lakes, and slowly moving streams; especially in sluggish waters.
Brachythemis contaminata | Description and habitat