Dragon Flies
Dragonflies are giants among insects as they are bigger than other insects in the world. The biggest of the dragonfly is five inches long and six inches broad with the wings spread out.
They are always moving from place to place and keep their wings spread even while at rest. They can fly at ninety-five Kilometers per hour and they can keep flying for many weeks. They are in the air most of the time usually busy catching their prey.
They are born under water for the eggs laid on water or on water plants hatch out and live in water waiting for the prey. They are never tired of eating. The different parts of their body take a year to grow into full grown dragon flies, with large and round heads and transparent wings. Then they can fly in the air. They have got long thin bodies, four long narrow wings. six legs. a large head, large round eyes and two feelers.
The head contain large eyes. They contain thousands of separate eyes. They have as many as 2500 eyes in one eye. They see a number of things at the same time.
Without breathing one would die so we breathe in pure air and breathe out impure air. But the dragon flies have a number of air holes on both sides of their bodies and they breathe through these holes. But they have their feelers to smell. They can smell not only their prey, catch it and kill it but also smell their enemies and fly away from them.
The dragonflies do not have their ears in their heads. They have their ears in a strange place. Just like the crickets have their ears in their legs, grasshoppers in their stomachs, they have their ears on their sides.
They have brains also like the human beings and there are cords connecting the brain to the rest of the body. But the nerve cords do not run at the back of the body but run on the underside. But the brain does not control all parts other body. Even if the brain is destroyed they can still carry on their normal life where as the human being cannot.
The six legs of the dragonfly are not meant for walking. The dragonflies do not walk but they are always flying. But the legs are used for holding on tightly to sticks and leaves when they want to rest. There are hooks on the tip of their legs. When they rest, these hooks hold on tight and they cannot fall off.
The dragonflies are not harmful for they neither sting nor bite. They are helpful to us in a number of ways. They eat the houseflies, ants and mosquitoes which are harmful to us for they bring disease and death.
The birds are the enemies of the dragonflies for they prey on them. But the mother fly lays thousands and thousands of eggs and so they cannot be destroyed.
