Dragonflies

The other morning I was out watering my plants and saw at least 10 dragonflies swirling around my back yard. They often come in beautiful colors, and for years I have had a couple of bright orange dragonflies watching over my yard. I had one that was a bright powder blue. Sometimes dragonflies have stripes on their wings. They are amazing!

A dragonfly is a type of insect, and is characterized by large multifaceted eyes, two pairs of strong transparent wings, and an elongated body. The wings of most dragonflies are held away from, and perpendicular to, the body when at rest. Even though dragonflies possess 6 legs like any other insect, they are not capable of walking.

Dragonflies are valuable predators that eat mosquitoes, and other small insects like flies, bees, ants, and butterflies. They are usually found around lakes, ponds, streams and wetlands because their larvae, known as "nymphs", are aquatic. I don't know where my dragonflies come from–I don't have any wet areas for the nymphs to live in–I am just glad that they are here!