Petaluridae. Austropetaliidae. Aeshnidae. Gomphidae. Neopetaliidae. Cordulegastridae. Libellulidae.
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What is a dragonfly? Dragonflies and damselflies belong to the insect order Odonata. As in other insects, their body is divided into three regions: head, thorax and abdomen. The hemispherical or dumbbell-shaped head...has large compound eyes which cover the entire sides, and the antennae are small and setaceous. The head...and other accessory structures (hamukes and genital lobes) are found. The caudal appendages are at the tip of the abdomen and are used by the male to hold the female by its head during copulation. Before copula ensues, the male curves his abdomen to charge the visica spermalis with sperm, which is produced by the gonads that open, as in other insects, on the venter of the ninth segment. After the male grasps the female, she bends her abdomen placing her genital opening in contact with the charged vesica spermalis so that the characteristic wheel position or copula takes place. Females almost always lay their eggs in the water, where the larvae develop...
Dragonflies and damselflies belong to the insect order Odonata. As in other insects, their body is divided into three regions: head, thorax and abdomen. The hemispherical or dumbbell-shaped head...has large compound eyes which cover the entire sides, and the antennae are small and setaceous. The head...and other accessory structures (hamukes and genital lobes) are found. The caudal appendages are at the tip of the abdomen and are used by the male to hold the female by its head during copulation. Before copula ensues, the male curves his abdomen to charge the visica spermalis with sperm, which is produced by the gonads that open, as in other insects, on the venter of the ninth segment. After the male grasps the female, she bends her abdomen placing her genital opening in contact with the charged vesica spermalis so that the characteristic wheel position or copula takes place. Females almost always lay their eggs in the water, where the larvae develop...
Source: Dragonfly Genera of the New World: An Illustrated and Annotated Key to the Anisoptera, by Rosser W. Garrison, Natalia von Ellenrieder, Jerry A. Louton. John Hopkins University Press, 2006.
Dragonflies have been buzzing the planet for more than 200 million years. They emerged sometime during or just after the mass extinctions separating the Triassic and Jurassic periods. They are, truly, prehistoric and when seen sitting on the equally prehistoric horsetail (Equisetum hyemale -- found in the Sierra, dating back 350 million years), you're on the verge of a time warp.
Besides having an amazing sex life, the dragonfly lives within a complex and detailed social world where males often stand to protect the female while she deposits their fertilized eggs. It has been documented that male dragonflies will often secure themselves to their female partner to escort the female from place to place in the search for safe deposits.
They are excellent companions for your yard and garden not only because of their beauty, their fairy-like presence and their time bridge to the dinosaurs, the Dragonfly dines on small gnats, mosquitoes, black flies, as well as deer and horse flies. In fact, horses and other warm blooded mammels that live in the local forest are said to socialize with dragonflies on a first name basis. They are that beneficial.
Dragonflies don't take well to insecticides. It's best to offer them a safe place. Your garden can be a poison free zone for the dragonfly and other beneficial and interesting insects. The Dragonfly has been around since the continents began drifting apart. They deserve our protection.
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For the most part, poison on your plants isn't a good idea, for poisons tend to be indiscriminate in their killing abilities. They kill the bad and the good insects alike. That means poisons kill good insects like Honeybees, Ladybugs and Praying Mantises. Plus, the killing is unfair, creepy, usually overkill and the residue is questionable.
What makes more sense is to plan, produce and maintain what might be called a living garden by integrating the predatory insects into the garden's ecosystem. Let Ladybugs, Lacewings and Praying Mantises keep the pest populations down. You won't have to worry about poisoning yourself and you'll come to notice the subtle meaning to the phrase, "a living garden , a gardener alive."
