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Introduction
Introduction
Dragonflies were some of the first winged insects to evolve 300 million years ago. Modern dragonflies have wingspans of only two to five inches, but fossil dragonflies have been found with wingspans of up to two feet (Resh and Cardé, 2009). Dragonflies are admired for their bright colors, agile flight, extraordinary vision, and impressive hunting accuracy. These insects are represented in human culture through art and jewelry, used as traditional medicine in Japan and China, and caught for food in Indonesia. They are symbols of courage, strength, and happiness in Japan, but seen as sinister in European mythology.
Classification
Classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Odonata
Suborder: Anisoptera
Distribution
Distribution
Dragonflies are found on every continent except for Antartica. In particular, the majority of the families that comprise Anisoptera are broadly distributed throughout the world (Resh and Cardé, 2009). Some of the species of dragonfly have vast distributions such as the blue-eye darner, Rhionaeschna multicolor, which is found from coast to cost in North America, in addition to Central and South America.
Author: Dan Malloy
References:
Resh, V. H., Cardé, R.T. (2009). Encyclopedia of Insects. Academic Press. p. 722. ISBN 978-0-08-092090-0
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