20 Unexplored Facts from the Kaleidoscopic Dragonfly World

Varied insects live among us but we don’t know much about them and what their world looks like until we start reading the information carefully compiled by experts. Some facts about dragonflies are astonishing – for example, their aggressive nature and their long-lasting mating ritual, and some facts just make us humble – like the notion that a female dragonfly can lay up to 1,500 eggs at one go. Dragonflies are among the most beautiful, admired insects and this is why they are often interesting for humans. Still, there are many more peculiar facts about them not related to their looks. Do not be shallow and learn something about their character, too.

Dragonflies fly in straight sharp lines while their easily mistaken cousins – damselflies, flutter.

Dragonflies are very hungry predators, especially the larvae, and can eat most living things smaller than they are.

They are used as medicine in Japan and as food in Indonesia.

There are about 3,000 species of dragonflies in the world today.

“It’s complicated”- their mating and reproduction involve indirect insemination and delayed fertilization.

A clutch of eggs laid by the female can have up to 1,500(!) eggs.

Huge fossils of ancient dragonfly species are found from 325 million years ago.

Being cold-blooded, they love sunbathing and they raise their temperature by basking in the early morning sun.

While they are symbols of courage, strength, and happiness in Japan, they are a bad omen in European fairytales.

Dragonflies are cosmopolitan – they live on every continent except Antarctica.

An adult dragonfly eye has nearly 24,000 ommatidia. (If you wonder what that is, so did we – small photoreceptors that make insect eyes.)

Dragonflies may look all nice and colorful, but they are extremely territorial, especially males and ward off against most other insect
species.

While they make love, they can fly in tandem forming a heart-shaped posture.

They start feasting by decapitating their prey and digesting their head first!

Their beautiful colors are an inspiration for poetic giants like Tennyson and Bates.

It is not only Europeans that admire dragonflies – they are a favorite topic of Japanese haiku poetry, too.

Luminous colors on their wings and bodies are a result of structured coloration that manifests in flight and in movement.

Dragonflies are attracted to shiny surfaces that they can easily mistake for water, and lay eggs on polished gravestones, solar panels and automobiles.

They are strong and fast fliers, capable of flying across huge water surfaces and suddenly changing their way in six different flight directions.

Their greatest enemy is – you guessed it – humans. Many uncategorized species are being destroyed along with rainforest destruction.