Prehistoric-looking #dragonflies can be a little intimidating as they #swoop about the #summerskies. These large-eyed #aeronauts love to feed on #pests like #mosquitoes and #midges for which we can be truly grateful—but those aren't the only interesting qualities that make them so fascinating.
Long before the #dinosaurs roamed the Earth, dragonflies took to the air. The #giganticprecursors to modern dragonflies had wingspans of over two feet and dotted the skies during the #Carboniferousperiod over 300 million years ago.
#FemaleDragonflies Play Dead to Avoid Males Dragonfly Nymphs Live In the Water
There's a good reason why you see dragonflies and damselflies around ponds and lakes: They're #aquatic! Female dragonflies deposit their #eggs on the water's surface, or in some cases, insert them into aquatic plants or moss. Once hatched, the #nymph dragonfly spends its time hunting other aquatic #invertebrates. Larger species even dine on the occasional #smallfish or #tadpole. After molting somewhere between six and 15 times, a dragonfly nymph is finally ready for adulthood and crawls out of the water to shed its final immature skin.
