Dragonfly

for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird in the mountains, and the insects in the fields are mine. Psalm 50:10-11 (NIV)

As I know I’ve mentioned in previous posts, getting to touch a wild thing is always captivating for me. I’m pretty sure I’ve tried to photograph a dragonfly darting about in the air before, but they were always far too quick for me to get a bead on one.

On this good day along the river, the above pictured critter actually flew to me.

Dragonflies can fly sideways, straight up and down, hover in one place, and even backwards. They can move all four wings independently of each other, which gives them remarkable flying ability. They are some of the fastest insects known to man, and are capable of flying at speeds of over thirty miles per hour.

Well no wonder I couldn’t get a clear picture of one!

Dragonflies live in the water during their larval stage. Here they eat all manner of aquatic insects, including mosquito larvae, and just about anything they can get ahold of. Even tadpoles and small fish can be on the larval dragonflies’ menu. As they emerge from their larval stage, they eat only the insects they catch in the air. Once again, mosquitoes are in their diet, and one dragonfly can eat hundreds in a single day.

Most of their head consists of compound eyes, all 30.000 of them. This allows the dragonfly to have almost 360 degree vision. That, along with their superior flying agility, helps make them quite effective as aerial predators. Man has long studied the physics of these large insects’ flying ability, and has actually developed multiple-lens telescopes based on the compound eye of the dragonfly.

As we continue to discover what God has already designed in His Creation, we do well to give Him the glory.

Hope you have a great day.