Nature's Drone, Pretty and Deadly : NY Times article reporting research on dragonfly predatory prowess
How do Dragonflies See the World? Animal Super Senses : very nice video from BBC presenting the incredible specialization of dragonfly sight
Extraordinary diversity of visual opsin genes in dragonflies in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences : abstract of the paper with link to the full text available there as well
Tree of Life Dragonfly Flight : a succinct but informative article summarizing a lot of research
The Secret of the Dragonfly Flight Revealed : a news article reporting on this research but also mentioning a wing rate of 20-30 beats per second.
Nature Needs More Explorers : PDF of a beautiful PowerPoint presentation put together by the three researchers who described 60 new species of dragonfly and damselfly in Africa in 2015! (And here is the Scientific American article describing this along with a number of new beetle species discovered in Hawaii.)
The petaltail dragonflies (Odonata: Petaluridae): Mesozoic habitat specialists that survive to the modern day : abstract of journal article at ResearchGate.net, full article downloadable as PDF
Odonata Central : This is a fantastic resource for dragonfly enthusiasts! They provide up-to-date checklists for every county in the nation and beyond, collect observations AND vet them to confirm or as needed help with IDs, leaving unconfirmed IDs that are not adequately supported with sufficiently detailed photographs, etc. Check this out. If you are doing Dragonfly Observations, you should be reporting your findings if they are not already represented where you are finding them.
Illinois State Museum Dragonfly Database : the state museum's county by county records based on their collections and reports they receive; see the left-hand menu for other resources
The Dragonfly ID App (iOS but Android is coming) : Yes, this is perhaps technically not online, but it connects with the Odonata Central database. It's still a work in progress, but worth checking out if you have an iPhone. The Android version is on its way too. I've found it very useful, though the upgrade in Fall 2016 temporarily removed some of the functionality I loved... Hanging in there with them and looking forward to future improvements!
Dragonflies: Four Wings, Will Travel : an introduction to the natural history of North America’s migratory dragonflies from the Migratory Dragonfly Partnership, an excellent overview (PDF)
Identifying Dragonfly Larva to Family : an excellent video illustrating how naiads can be identified to family
Doug's Dragonfly Playlist on YouTube : a somewhat curated collection of videos of and about dragonflies from many sources
Dragonfly Society of the Americas (DSA) : This is a fantastic group holding annual meetings with a day of papers and multiple days of field trips in the surrounding areas. The 2018 meeting is scheduled for July 10-17, 2018 in Duluth Minnesota. They welcome dragonfly enthusiasts of all skill levels, from beginner to professional. They also have two publications available to members, though older issues are downloadable from the website as well.
Odonata of the Eastern United States : This is a Facebook Group (yes, something good CAN come out of Facebook!) where folks east of the Mississippi post their dragonfly and damselfly pictures and get help with identifications if needed. Excellent, helpful resource, very collegial, supportive and educational.
Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation : An organization engaged with conservation efforts more broadly including support for the Migratory Dragonfly Partnership (see under Citizen Science Opportunities below).
Beginner's Guide to Dragonflies by Nikula, Sones and Stokes : a good beginner's guide, very visual, good information and easy to use, covers a selected list of damselflies and dragonflies of North America, very useful for most of the dragonflies you'll if you're starting out (available on Amazon)
Dragonflies through Binoculars: A Field Guide to Dragonflies of North America by Dunkle : 307 species of North American dragonflies (no damselflies in this one) with descriptions and color photographs -- the other book I started with, covers dragonflies much more extensively than the Beginner's Guide but not as easy to use starting out (available via Amazon)
Dragonflies of Indiana by Curry : an excellent field guide, my personal favorite for our area-- we do not have a guide like this for Illinois, so this is as close as it gets, but beyond that it's very well done and has very good, large photos and great descriptions; does not include damselflies (available via Amazon)
Dragonflies and Damselflies of the East by Paulson : as far as I know this is the most recent and most comprehensive field guide for dragonflies and damselflies east of the Mississippi and the eastern half of Canada; there is also a Dragonflies and Damselflies of the West by the same author. If you'll be traveling and looking at "odes" then one or the other or both of these are the books to get (available on Amazon)
Other regional guides : do a search on Amazon for "dragonfly field guide" and you'll see numerous books for states or regions not only of North America but around the world
Dragonflies by Brooks : from the Natural History Museum, London, a great book covering the life cycle of dragonflies in great detail with lots of good information. This is not a field guide. (available on Amazon)
Dragonflies by Berger : the most recent book I've stumbled onto, covers life cycle and provides information on 27 species of dragonflies and damselflies. I've found information in this book that I haven't found elsewhere and especially like the illustrations -- the book has no photographs, but the illustrations are extremely well done, informative and beautiful -- makes me want to be artistic! (available on Amazon)
Migratory Dragonfly Partnership : This organization seeks to better understand dragonfly migration focusing on just five major migratory species. Volunteer opportunities include PondWatch and Migratory Observations. Their website (like that of DSA) is hosted by Odonata Central, but they are separate organizations.
Illinois Odonate Survey : "We are a citizen scientist program surveying dragonfly and damselflies populations and accounts throughout Illinois." Website includes basic and intermediate training videos on the protocol they use as well as identification of the most common odes (dragonflies and damselflies) you would be likely to see. Although the website states that they expanded their focus to include all of Illinois in 2011, the available survey reports do not show that they have had participation from outside the Chicago area apart from Lee County in 2012.
BioBlitzes : If you have not been a part of a BioBlitz, it's typically a 24-hour period dedicated to discovering and identifying as many living organisms, plant and animal, as possible in a given park or preserve. Past bioblitzes in our area that I am aware of have been held at Allerton and twice at Busey Woods.
The blue wings of this dragonfly may be surprisingly alive : a Science News article revealing the recent discovery that although most insect wings consist of dead cells between the living veins, it appears that in one genus of dragonfly these cells may also be living and this may account for the very complicated structure giving them their blue color...
from a presentation given by Doug Mills for the East Central Illinois Master Naturalists and the Urbana Park District, 6/19/17