Dragonflies are ancient insects, known for their striking appearance and remarkable flight. These voracious predators primarily feed on other insects. Their existence spans over 300 million years, making them a long-standing part of many ecosystems.
What Dragonflies Eat
The diet of a dragonfly changes significantly between its aquatic larval stage and its adult flying stage. Adult dragonflies consume a wide variety of insects they can catch in flight. Their common prey includes mosquitoes, flies, midges, and gnats, which often form the bulk of their diet. They also prey on larger insects such as moths, smaller butterflies, bees, beetles, and even other smaller dragonflies or damselflies. A single adult dragonfly can consume a significant amount of food, often eating up to 20% of its body weight daily, with some larger species capable of eating their own body weight in a single day.
Dragonfly larvae, often called nymphs, live underwater and are also skilled predators. These nymphs feed on almost any aquatic animal smaller than themselves that they can overpower. Their diet typically includes aquatic insect larvae, worms, small crustaceans, and leeches. Larger dragonfly nymphs are capable of preying on tadpoles and small fish.
How Dragonflies Hunt
Dragonflies exhibit remarkable hunting strategies and physical adaptations that make them effective aerial predators. Their flight capabilities are exceptional; they can accelerate quickly, turn sharply, hover in place, and even fly backward. This agility allows them to pursue and capture prey directly from the air, a method often referred to as hawking.
A dragonfly’s large, multifaceted compound eyes, which can contain tens of thousands of individual lenses, provide nearly 360-degree vision, enabling them to spot prey from a distance. Once prey is sighted, they use their spiny legs to form a “basket” or scoop during flight, capturing the insect mid-air. The captured prey is brought to the strong mandibles for consumption, often while the dragonfly is still in flight.
Dragonflies as Natural Pest Control
Dragonflies play an important role in natural pest control due to their predatory feeding habits. Both aquatic nymphs and flying adults contribute to managing insect populations. Nymphs consume mosquito larvae in the water, directly reducing mosquito populations before they mature.
Adult dragonflies are effective at controlling adult mosquito populations, which is particularly beneficial given that mosquitoes can carry diseases. By preying on nuisance insects, dragonflies contribute to maintaining ecological balance in their habitats. Their presence often indicates a healthy wetland environment.