Dragonflies are very strong and fast flyers. They can fly forward at about 100 body-lengths per second and backwards at about 3 body-lengths per second. They are also capable of hovering in the air continuously for about a minute. A dragonfly in Australia was clocked flying at the speed of 36 miles per hour.
Dragonflies are among the most beautiful, ancient and fascinating insects. There are approximately 5,000 different species of dragonflies. They can be found everywhere in the world except in Antarctica. The United States has 450 species, and British Columbia, Canada has about 80 species. Dragonflies are of the order of insects called Odonata, which includes both dragonflies (Anisoptera) and damselflies (Zygoptera). An adult dragonfly’s body is more stout than that of a damselfly, and when a dragonfly is perched, it extends its two pairs of transparent wings either out to the side or out and downward, or even somewhat forward. An adult damselfly has a more slender body by comparison, and it holds its wings folded back over its abdomen while at rest. Both dragonflies and damselflies have large heads with compound eyes that arevery large relative to the rest of their bodies. By contrast, their antennae are very small. Each compound eye is composed of nearly 28,000 individual units. The eyes of a damselfly are set apart, but in most dragonflies species, the eyes touch.
