Dragonflies

All 4 species of dragonflies on WAnimals

Each one has its own full profile. This group does not replace them: it brings them together.

Conservation status

Where they live

Recorded in 118 countries. The ones with the most species in the group:

Where to see them

Did you know…?

• There is a form called praenubila with greatly exaggerated wing spots, which appears to depend on water temperature during the larval stage and is commoner in Europe than in America.

  From

• It is the official state insect of Alaska.

  From

• The males are markedly territorial: they post themselves on tall plants to watch the whole sheet of water and return to the same perch after every patrol.

  From

• The female lays her eggs hanging vertically over the water and jabbing her abdomen repeatedly into the sand of the bottom, like a sewing machine.

  From

• Its larva lives buried in the sediment of the stream for three to five years, and in cold mountain water it can take longer still.

  From

• It needs clean, cool streams with bankside vegetation, and is an excellent indicator of headwaters in good condition.

  From

• The clubtails are the only group of large European dragonflies whose eyes do not meet on top of the head, a feature that identifies them at a glance.

  From

Ecosystems