O for Odonata: Dragonflies and Damselflies

© Copyright Evelyn Simak and licensed
for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

FUN FACTS:

1) Odonata comes from the Greek, meaning tooth (referring to the teeth on the mandibles).

2) Immature odonates are aquatic and have an extendable appendage (labium) used for capturing prey. This appendage folds upon itself and has a set of gripping jaws at the end. When prey moves within range, the labium thrusts out faster than the prey can react. The jaws seize the prey resulting in its capture.

3) Their diet consists of small insects mainly mosquitoes and are considered beneficial predators.

4) Dragonflies when at rest, will hold their wings flat like an airplane. Damselflies will fold their wings above their abdomen at rest.

 5) Dragonflies are some of the fastest flying insects in the world with speeds estimated between 25 and 35 km/hour. Some records suggest as high as 56+ km/hour.

6) Mating usually takes place in flight ( How cool is that!).

Most odonates don't engage in elaborate courtship rituals. They tend to take the caveman approach when trying to get the girl. In flight, male dragonflies will clasp females behind the head, with a modified appendage at the tip of his abdomen. This forms a tandem pair and usually only takes a few seconds. Then things get a bit tricky but hang with me. The female sex organ is near the tip of her abdomen, but the male’s sex organ is closer to his thorax. o_o  Therefore, the female has to bend her abdomen forward, to link her business end with his business end. This position forms a lopsided-heart shape that is sometimes referred to as the wheel formation. After copulation the couple may separate or remain in tandem, it depends on species. The eggs are then deposited in a nearby body of water, usually a pond or marsh.