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More About Dragonflies ...
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The dragonfly (suborder Anisoptera) is an insect of the order Odonata, with large multifaceted eyes, two pairs of long transparent wings, and a long body. Dragonflies have very good eye sight due to their unique eye structure. Dragonflies typically eat mosquitoes, midges and other small insects like flies, bees, and butterflies. They are usually found around ponds, small streams, and swamps. Another name for them is mosquito hawks.
Dragonflies do not bite or sting humans.[1]
The life cycle of the dragonfly, from egg to death of adult, is from six months to as much as six or seven years. Sometimes female dragonflies lay eggs in the small cleft between mud or moss. Most of their life time is spent in the larval (nymph) form, beneath the water surface, using their gills to breathe, catching other invertebrates, such as tadpoles, or even tiny fish. In the adult (flying) stage larger species of dragonfly can live as long as four months. Dragonflies have about 30,000 facets to their eyes, giving them nearly a 360° field of vision.
In the past some much larger dragonfly species existed. The largest found was an extinct Protodonata from the Permian period with a wingspan of 70-75cm (27.5-29.5"). This compares to 19cm (7.5") for the largest modern species of odonate, the Central American giant damselfly Megaloprepus coerulatus. The smallest modern species recorded is the libellulid dragonfly Nannophya pygmaea from east Asia with a wing span of only 20mm, or about 3/4 of an inch.
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Taxonmony
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Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Hexapoda
Order: Odonata
Family:
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Source: Wikipedia Read more about Dragonflies
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VIDEO CLIPS
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Dragonfly
0.710MB MOV View Movie
Insects in Motion - Entomology Department at Virginia Tech
Dragonfly nymph striking an earthworm underwater.
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Dragonfly
Streaming RM View Movie
PBS
A nymph shedding its husk to reveal an adult dragonfly
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Dragonfly
1.330MB ASF View Movie
Forest Lifeforms of Singapore and Malaysia
Watch the dragonfly fly and lay (or drop) its eggs in water. "Play video" button will not work. Use the links on the page (click on the dragonfly image (scroll down)) to see the video. Real nice clip.
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Dragonfly
1.440MB MPG View Movie
thaibugs.com
Aristocypha fenestrella returning from catching prey. Takes a while to download. Might be better to save to disk first and play later.
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Dragonfly
1.330MB MPG View Movie
thaibugs.com
Dragonfly preparing to hunt again. Takes a while to download. Might be better to save to disk first and play later.
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Dragonfly
0.400MB MOV View Movie
Finley-Holiday Films
Dragon fly
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Dragonfly
1.690MB MOV View Movie
Rudewater
Dragonflies
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Dragonfly
4.420MB MPG View Movie
The Creepy Crawly Zoo
Dragonfly clip
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Dragonfly
0.700MB MOV View Movie
Insects in Motion - Entomology Department at Virginia Tech
Dragonfly nymph feeding on the earthworm. Notice the movement of the labium, the hinged structure moving back and forth while holding the prey in place.
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