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Dragonfly is a beautiful flying insect. It has four large, fragile wings which look like fine gauze. The wings shimmer and gleam in the sunlight when the insect flies. The dragonfly's long, slender body may be red, green, or blue, with white, yellow, or black markings. Large compound eyes, which look like beads, cover most of the head. The dragonfly can see motionless objects almost 6 feet (1.8 meters) away, and moving objects two or three times that distance. The insect has six legs covered with spines. It can use its legs to perch on a limb, but the legs are not adapted for walking. As it flies through the air, it holds its legs together to form a basket in which to capture insects. The dragonfly grasps its prey with its legs or jaws, and may eat it while flying.
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Dragonflies have been known to fly 50 to 60 miles (80 to 97 kilometers) an hour. They fly so swiftly that they usually escape from birds or other animals. Some extinct species of dragonflies had wingspreads of 2 1/2 feet (76 centimeters). Male and female dragonflies often fly together and sometimes mate while in flight. The female often deposits her eggs in the water or places them inside the stem of a water plant. The nymph (young dragonfly) hatches within one to three weeks. It has a thick body, big head and mouth, and no wings. It has a folding flower lip, called a mask, which is half as long as its body. The lip has jawlike hooks at the end and can move out to capture victims. The nymph breathes by means of gills. |
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The dragonfly nymph remains in the water for one to five years. It eats insects and small water animals. Some large dragonfly nymphs feed on young fish. While developing into an adult dragonfly, the nymph molts (sheds its skin) about 12 times. For its final molt, the nymph leaves the water and climbs onto a reed or rock. It then sheds its skin for the last time and emerges as an adult that soon can fly. Adult dragonflies live for only a few weeks to a few months.
Dragonflies are sometimes called devil's-darning-needles, snake doctors, snake feeders, horse stingers, and mule killers. They help people by feeding on harmful insects such as mosquitoes. Small, graceful damsel flies look like dragonflies, but have more slender, fragile bodies. Scientific classification. Dragonflies and damsel flies belong to the class Insecta. They make up the order Odonata. |
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