Flying forcefully
Ambushing prey in mid-flight
Munching off the head
CJ’s Desert Dwellers: Damselflies & Dragonflies
Order:Odonata
These creatures are fascinating. Using their four independently functioning wings, they dart over ponds of water, catching dinner, mating, laying eggs…all while in flight! Their legs aren’t for walking, they’re for holding ‘lunch’. These insects CANNOT fold wings flat against the body. The dragonfly extends its wings horizontally while at rest and the damselfly holds them towards the rear in a vertical position. The giant bulging eyes give them a cool quality.
5000 species worldwide and over 450 in North America. Fossils from these creatures go back over 300 million years.
They lay their eggs in the water which hatch and become ‘niads’ that wriggle around in the pond ooze, catching prey. When mature, they crawl out of the water, their ’shell’ splits, and a new insect flies away!
Familiar Bluet Enallagma civile male
28-37 mm (1.15-1.5 inches)
Second – Desert Firetail Telebasis salva male
Flame Skimmer Libellula saturata
28-61 mm (1.15-2.45 inches) Wingspan 85-95 mm (3.45-3.75 inches)
