Interesting Insects: order Odonata

After watching this "Bug Chicks" video and reading the chapter, "Water Lizards and Aerial Dragons" from Evans' book, Life on a Little Known Planet, I found the order of Odonata to be a quite interesting insect. One thing that I really think is neat about dragonflies is the way that they fly. They do not fly like other insects do, they have their own, unique way. On a normal insect, the body contracts and expands muscles to produce flight, but on a dragonfly, the wings have their own muscles, and do not rely on part of the body to take flight.

"The Bug Chicks" also said that dragonflies are one of the only two animals that are able to fly backwards. The other is a hummingbird.

Another interesting quality found in dragonflies is their eyesight. They have some of the largest compound eyes, and rely mostly on their sight- not touch or smell- to kill their prey. This is why they have very small antennae.  They also have some pretty rad jaws- and is how they got their order- Odonata. Odonto, when translated, means "toothed", and refers to the dragonfly's powerful jaws. They even have grasping mouthparts called labium when they are still immature and not fully adults.

One neat fact from Evans about dragonflies is that sometimes, dragonflies are called snake doctors. This is because they are said to warn a snake of anything approaching that may be danger.

While Evans book made me love dragonflies, when I watched this video, I learned so much more. For example, The Bug Chicks talk about how Japan is known for loving insects, especially dragonflies. The story goes that when the first emperor of Japan saw the country from the top of a mountain, he thought it looked like two dragonflies mating. Since he felt this way, the original name of Japan was Akitsushima- or "The Dragonfly Isles".

Mythology also suggests that Native Americans used to tell which season it was by looking at the color of dragonfly that was flying during the time.

Evans suggests that Odonata can be very territorial, especially the males. They do this to attract a female, so that they can mate. If another male approaches a dragonfly's territory, they will dash about in  a little "dance" until finally the loser is chased off. Dragonflies rarely resort to actual combat because they cannot heal the wounds that they sustain during a battle.

Overall, the order Odonata is one of a kind, and certainly amazing in all their features.



**All Rights Reserved to The Bug Chicks for this video. All information on dragonflies was gained from this video, and from "Water Lizards and Aerial Dragons", from the book Life on a Little Known Planet, written by Howard Ensign Evans**