Concept in Definition ABC

This large insect lives in the aquatic environment when it is a larva and becomes a flier when it is an adult. Like other insects its structure bodily it is divided into head, thorax and abdomen. It belongs to the order of the odonates (the word odonates comes from the Greek and means tooth). There are more than 5000 species around the world.

Main features and some curiosities

They lay their eggs in aquatic vegetation or directly in the Water. His stage larval is highly variable, as it can last from a few weeks to several years. Adults only return to the aquatic environment to reproduce. Before copulation, the male and female perform a sexual courtship in the form of a nuptial flight.

It is a predatory animal that defends its territory and that it feeds on all kinds of insects and even on its own congeners. It lives preferably in tropical climates, but there are species in very diverse territories, except the North Pole and Antarctica.

Dragonflies have strong jaws and developed teeth. Your eyes are made up of thousands of tiny hexagonal structures and this allows you to have a wide vision.

amplitude without having to turn your head.

They move in large groups and can travel distances of more than 15,000 kilometers. Its wings are elongated and thin and because of this it is one of the fastest insects on the planet (the Australian dragonfly reaches a velocity close to 100 km / h).

Its symbolic dimension in different cultures

In the accounts of Germanic mythology this insect was related to the goddess Freyla, a deity associated with the love, to eroticism and beauty. Like other odonata, this animal has been linked to the forces of evil. In oriental culture they are considered beneficial, since they are attributed an aphrodisiac power.

Among samurai it is an emblem of good luck and for this reason these insects are present in the literature Japanese, especially in children's stories.

In Mayan mythology it is said that dragonflies helped the Sun in the creation of the world and in Hindu mythology it is stated that when people die their souls become dragonflies. According to a Philippine legend, if a dragonfly lands on a person's head, they experience some mental disorder.

An ally for farmers

Many crops are threatened by all kinds of insects and pests In this sense, the dragonfly is a good ally of farmers, since it is one of the biggest predators of small insects

Photos: Fotolia - David / Nairon

Themes in Dragonfly