Join Photoblog!

2009.04.10

2009.04

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
			1	2	3	4
5	6	7	8	9	10	11
12	13	14	15	16	17	18
19	20	21	22	23	24	25
26	27	28	29	30

2009.04.12

I Heart Dragonflies

2009.04.11

*Fossil records date the dragonfly back 300 million years.
*The largest dragonfly recorded from fossil records had a wing span of about two and one-half feet.
*There are approximatley 5,000 different species of dragonflies in the world today, split almost evenly between true dragonflies and damselflies. Most species live in tropical areas, however they can be found in every continent except Antarctica.
*There are approximately 450 different species in the United States.
*Dragonflies have a life span of anywhere from about six months to several years. Most of the dragonfly life span is spent in the water as a nymph. During this period, which can last up to a couple of years, it sheds its skin many times. Finally it crawls onto land to break out of its skin as a full fledged dragonfly.
*Dragonflies are known as beneficial insects because they eat so many harmful insects such as mosquitoes, gnats, ants termites and even butterflies, spiders and other dragonflies.
*Dragonflies do not harm people. They do not bite and they do not sting.
*Estimates differ on how fast dragonflies fly. It could be anywhere between 30-60 mph.
*Dragonflies can fly like a helicopter, moving in all directions, forward, backward, up and down. They can also hover.
*Sight is the dragonfly's most important sense. Each eye can contain up to 30,000 tiny lenses.