Why do we love dragonflies so? The iridescent grace of finely veined wings, the constant motion over a sunny pond, the bright colors and striking patterns...Plus the eating of mosquitoes. As adults, dragonflies use their legs as a basket to catch other flying insects, like mosquitoes -- thus their nickname, "mosquito hawks."
But they don't just eat mosquitoes in the air. Both dragonflies and mosquitoes lay their eggs in water. And dragonfly nymphs are voracious eaters, with mosquito larvae on their menu. Some dragonfly nymphs also eat much larger prey, like small fish, tadpoles, and other aquatic critters.
When it's ready, a dragonfly nymph crawls out of the water, splits its back open, and emerges as an adult. Fast forward to 2:20 in this video to see the process, greatly sped up:
There have been at least 120 species of dragonfly recorded in DC and Maryland. Here are a few you might have noticed:
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| Common Green Darner Anax junius | Halloween pennant Celithemis eponina |
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| Common Pondhawk Erythemis simplicicollis | Blue Dasher Pachydiplax longipennis |
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| Autumn Meadowhawk Sympetrum vicinum | Common Whitetail Libellula lydia |
In the wild: Look for a sunny pond or stream. You may notice that you see different species depending on the size of the body of water, whether it is moving or still water, and how shaded or sunny it is.
In your yard: You're much more likely to have dragonflies if you have water. This is our third summer having a pond in our backyard, and we have started to see dragonflies relatively regularly. Which makes me a very happy camper.
What's your favorite spot for watching dragonflies? Do you have a favorite species that I left out? Leave us a comment!
Photo credits: Top photo by the Natural Capital; Common green darner by mean and pinchy; Halloween pennant by afagen ; Common pondhawk by meanlouise; Blue dasher by Dope on the Slope; Autumn Meadowhawk by jerryoldenettel ; Common Whitetail by afagen. Click on any picture for a larger version of the photo on flickr.