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A SCIENTIFIC REPORT Dragonflies



By Miss Gallo and Maddie

Introduction:

A dragonfly is a flying insect that can hover in mid-air and can be found in almost every country in the world. There are currently about 2,874 different species of dragonflies in the world and of that 324 are located in Australia. One of the oldest forms of dragonflies lived around 300 million years ago. The dragonfly is a type of insect belonging to the scientific classification of the order Odonata.

Anatomy:

The dragonfly has a three part body; a head, a thorax and a long segmented abdomen. Dragonflies have two big compound eyes (compound meaning that there are lots of little lenses in one eye) that cover most of the insect’s head. Their short thorax has three pairs of jointed legs and two pairs of long, delicate wings. Dragonflies breathe through tiny holes in their abdomen. Habitat: A fully grown dragonfly lives near freshwater streams, lakes, ponds and wetlands. Dragonfly nymphs live in freshwater lakes ponds and streams. Dragonflies need the grass around the water to lay their eggs, for protection and to catch food. Dragonfly nymphs need clean unpolluted water to survive.

Feeding and Predators: Adult dragonflies eat flies, mosquitoes and other small flying insects while dragonfly nymphs will not only hunt worms, tadpoles and very small fish they are happy to eat themselves. Adult dragonflies do not bite or sting humans while dragonfly nymphs can give a painful but harmless bite. Fish, frogs, beetles and ducks are not the only enemies for dragonfly nymphs but unclean polluted water as well. The adult dragonfly is hunted by birds, lizards and larger insects especially when it is emerging from its skin.