Dragonflies are found around the world— anyplace where there’s fresh water. There are more than 3,000 species in various sizes and colors, and they are among the oldest animals on the planet.
“These are things that have been around since well before the dinosaurs," says Ethan Tolman, a post doc at Virginia Tech and a research associate at the American Museum of Natural History. He says dragon flies, which can grow to about four inches in length, are successful because they eat well.
“They are actually the world’s most efficient predators. They’re successful over 90% of the time. Most mammals are well below 50%.”
And they’ll eat almost anything they can catch, including other dragonflies.
“Some of the largest have actually been documented eating hummingbirds," Tolman says.
One reason they’re such great hunters is their skill in the air.
“They can go up, down, backwards, forwards, hover in one place for a while. They’re really something. Our military has studied them," says Emily Luebke, a photographer on staff at the Piedmont Discovery Center.
She joined another dragonfly enthusiast – Jim Childress – to identify more than a hundred species in Albemarle County and five dozen in Shenandoah National Park.
“The state had, I think, documentation for 23 species when I started, and we have 114 species now for Albemarle County," Childress says. "In the park we have 61.”
And those creatures have an intense mating ritual that ensures the most aggressive males fertilize dragon fly eggs. Again, Ethan Tolman and Emily Luebke.
“You often times will see two dragonflies flying together. Sometimes they form this almost like heart shape,” Tolman says.
“They will stay flying in tandem where the males has clasped the female behind the head,” Luebke continues. “When they’re done mating, sometimes they just hang on and fly together until she lays her eggs.”
These bugs are far sturdier than butterflies, and Tolman says they can live a long time.
“Some of the largest species in Australia, where there’s a lot of drought and maybe not a lot of opportunities to eat food, there have been some suggestions that they actually live as long as 20 years,” Tolman reports.
Luebke adds that dragon flies can be an important indicator of a healthy environment.
“Some of them are very sensitive to change in water quality. I’m talking about the nymph stage – that stage where they live in the water. The absence of some species of dragonflies might indicate that there’s a problem with the water.”
Tolman notes, however, that some dragonflies have adapted well to our somewhat polluted urban centers.
“Part of my research is on a species You’ll often find them at ponds specifically in cities.”
For more than a decade Luebke has documented dozens of dragon fly species with her camera.
“I’m on the ground with my macro lens, inches away from something nobody can see when they walk by and some people look concerned. Like is she okay?”
Photos are shared with the Dragonfly Society of the Americas, and this Saturday Luebke will show them to dozens of insect enthusiasts in Nelson County’s Quarry Gardens at Schuyler, followed by a field trip to the Rockfish and James Rivers. Childress says the public is invited to join and to do their part to protect Virginia’s dragonflies.
“You have to know what you’ve got to be able to do that.”
So if you see something interesting, Tolman adds, take a picture and upload it using an app like iNaturalist. Doing so could add to human knowledge of the natural world at a time when research dollars for science are in short supply.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
