Dragonfly: Mosquito Hawks

Growing up in the farm with a huge rice field, my brother have great memories of watching so many dragonflies when we are tasked to  guard the rice from birds who try to feast on it.  Sometimes, we get in trouble because we are busy chasing   dragonflues instead of scaring the birds lol.  Anyway, I just remembered those  memories when I saw this dragonfly in my backyard.  

According to wikipedia, a dragonfly is an insect belonging to the order Odonata, suborder Anisoptera. Adult dragonflies are characterized by large multifaceted eyes, two pairs of strong transparent wings, sometimes with coloured patches, and an elongated body.

I am always fascinated by  dragonflies.  Aside from birds and  butterflies, dragonflies are also a treat for me to watch during summertime in the garden.

I also love the fact that dragonflies are natural predator of the mosquito, they are  often referred to as "mosquito hawks" for their supposed ability to kill thousands of mosquitoes.

 I also learned that the one thing that makes the dragonfly a better predator is the fact that in the aquatic larval stage,  one of their food sources is mosquito larvae.  It is during this stage that they will do their most damage to mosquito populations, the reason being that as adults they typically like to feed during the day which is when most mosquitoes are hiding in bushes and timberlines. These dragonfly naiads as they are called are voracious and bold little predators and will take on almost any aquatic animal including other naiads. (uinfo derived from wbrcouncil.org)

I a,m so glad that they are around our  backyard because our daughter  is allergic to mosquito bites so they help us out in that aspect.