Dragonfly Facts
Dragonflies are an insect in the Odonata order.
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- Fossis records date the dragonfly back 300 million years.
- The largest dragonfly recorded from fossil records had a wing span of about two and one-half feet.
- There are approximatley 5,000 different species of dragonflies in the world today, on every continent except Antarctica.
- There are approximately 450 different species in the United States.
- Dragonflies have a life span of anywhere from about six months to several years. Most of the dragonfly life span is spent in the water as a nymph. During this period, which can last up to a couple of years, it sheds its skin many times. Finally it crawls onto land to break out of its skin as a full fledged dragonfly.
- Dragonflies are known as beneficial insects because they eat so many harmful insects such as mosquitoes, gnats, ants termites and even butterflies, spiders and other dragonflies.
- Dragonflies do not harm people. They do not bite and they do not sting.
- Estimates differ on how fast dragonflies fly. It could be anywhere between 30-60 mph.
- Dragonflies can fly like a helicopter, moving in all directions, forward, backward, up and down. They can also hover.
- Sight is the dragonfly's most important sense. Each eye can contain up to 30,000 tiny lenses.