Download Luna Moth

Luna Moth
My Home: I am found in trees of the eastern part of the United States and into Canada.
I only fly at night and that is
how I got my name, the word "luna" means moon.
What I eat: As a caterpillar, I will eat hickory, sycamore and walnut leaves. I do not
have a mouth and do not eat as an adult.
What I look like: My wings are light green with yellow stripes
that have a long wing tail. My wingspan is approximately
five inches long and four inches wide. I am one of the
largest moths in North America.
How I am born: I will go through four stages
of development: egg, caterpillar, pupa
(cocoon), and adult. The female can lay 400
to 600 eggs, four to six eggs at a time on the underside
of leaves.
It can take up to two weeks for my egg to hatch into a lime
green caterpillar with small orange spots along the sides. It takes about six weeks from
the time my egg is laid to turn into an adult.
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Fun Facts
The adult Luna Moth does not have a mouth,
which is why they only live about a week. Luna
Moths are members of the giant silkworm family.
Mosquito
My Home: I will usually remain within one mile of
the place where my egg hatched. I am found most
often near a water source; rivers, ponds, lakes,
streams or pools of standing water.
What I eat: As a larva, I eat the organic material in
the water. As an adult, I will drink the nectar or juices
from decaying materials. Only the female mosquito will bite.
The female requires a blood meal to develop her eggs.
What I look like: I am ½ to ¾ of an inch in length, gray in color with a long needle like
mouth part that is used to drink my food.
How I am born: I go through four stages of development:
egg, larva, pupa and adult. A female will lay her eggs in water,
100 to 300 at a time. As a larva in the water, I breathe by
using a tube I stick up above the surface like a snorkel.
My life cycle from egg to adult is about a month. Female
mosquitoes live up to 100 days. The males only live
approximately 20 days.
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Fun Facts
Mosquitoes existed
about 170 million years
ago, during the time of the
dinosaurs. There are about
3,500 species of mosquitoes.
Home > Insects > Praying Mantis
Praying Mantis
My Home: I am found in warm climates on
bushes, trees, houses or any structure
where I can find another insect for a
meal.
What I eat: I eat other insects.
What I look like: I can be green or brown, and
range 2 to 3 inches in length. I have a triangular
shaped head with a long torso and grasshopper type
back legs. My front legs have spines and are held
upright when I am still, which makes it look
like I am praying.
How I am born: I go through three
stages of development: egg, nymph and
adult. The female lays an egg case in the
fall that contains up to 300 eggs. I hatch in the
spring and emerge as a nymph, resembling a miniature
adult, except without wings. I will develop into an adult by
molting, shedding my skin. As an adult, my lifespan is
less than a year.
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Fun Facts
They are the
only insects
that can
turn their head
side-to-side 180
degrees. Their eyes
can see movement
up to 60 feet away.
The praying mantis
bites the back of the neck of its victim to paralyze
it before eating it. There are over 1,500 species of
the praying mantis worldwide
Cicada
My Home: I am found in North America
and throughout other parts of the world.
I spend most of my life underground as a
nymph. For the month I am an adult, I can be
found on trees, plants, fences, houses and
almost anywhere.
What I eat: As a nymph, I suck the sap
from the roots of trees. As an adult, I
have piercing sucking mouthparts and
drink the juices from plant stems.
What I look like: I have transparent wings
that can have many patterns or colors, red
eyes with a black body and will grow up to be
about 3 inches long.
How I am born: I go through three stages of
development: egg, nymph and adult. My egg is laid
in tree branches and when I hatch I fall to the ground.
In my larval stage I am called a nymph and I can live in the
ground for many years. Some periodic broods or nests of cicada larvae live in the
ground for 17 years! I emerge from the ground and attach myself to trees, plants, or
structures until I pop out of my skin and become an adult. As an adult, I only live from 2
weeks to 40 days.
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Fun Facts
You can hear the
cicada's song for up to
½ mile away and they only
sing during the daytime. The cicada
makes the loudest sound of any insect. There
are approximately 2,500 cicada species in the world.
Common Black Ant
My Home: I live in a colony, which can be in an anthill in the ground, a rotted log, an
infested structure such as the foundation of a home or tree.
What I eat: My jaws open sideways like scissors. I cannot eat 'whole' food, but instead
use my jaws to squeeze out the
juice and throw away the hull. I eat almost anything, from
other insects to vegetation.
What I look like: I have six legs and two eyes: which
are made up of many smaller eyes (or lenses).
I have two stomachs: the first for my food, the
second I use to feed other ants. I have two
antennae that I use for smell and touch. The
queen ant has wings and so do the male ants,
both for a short time.
How I am born: I have four stages of development:
egg, larva, pupa and adult. The queen in my ant colony
lays thousands of eggs. Worker ants take care of my egg
until it hatches. I will live 45 to 60 days.
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Fun Facts
An ant can lift 10 to 20
times its own body weight.
If a man weighed 180 pounds, he
would have to lift 1,800 to 3,600
pounds to be as strong as an ant.
Ants have the largest brain of any
insect. The combined brain cells of a
colony of ants have about the same
number of brain cells as a human.
Firefly (Lightning Bug)
My Home: I am found in humid, warm areas of the world, most often in rotting wood, by
the edges of stream, ponds, drainage ditches or in some other moist area. The greatest
numbers of fireflies are found in Asia and South America.
What I eat: As a larva, I eat earthworms, snails and slugs. As an
adult, I eat a variety of plants and other insects.
What I look like: I am approximately ¾ of an inch long,
and I usually am black with two red spots on my head,
with my outer casing outlined in yellow.
How I am born: I go through four stages of
development: egg, larva, pupa and adult. The
eggs are deposited in the ground and hatch in
about a month. As a larva, I feed all summer long
and hibernate during the winter. The next summer,
I emerge and in about six weeks become an adult.
Some species can live for several years by hibernating
as larva during the winter.
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Fun Facts
In the late evening
the firefly will 'flash' a
yellowish light to communicate with
other fireflies. The males will flash
approximately every five seconds and the females
will flash approximately every two seconds. Many fireflies do not produce light.
Grasshopper
My Home: I am found in gardens, fields, on crops
and forests in almost all climates worldwide.
What I eat: I am an herbivore, which means I
eat only plants.
What I look like: I come in many sizes and
up to 5 inches in length. I can walk, hop
great distances and even fly. I have five
eyes and no ears, but can still hear with a
special organ on my abdomen called a
tympanal organ. My large back legs are used
for hopping and making music. My smaller front
legs are used for eating and walking.
How I am born: I go through three stages of development: egg,
nymph and adult. My egg is laid in the fall and will hatch during the
spring. I hatch into a nymph, which looks like an adult grasshopper,
but without wings. I shed my skin many times to grow. When I become an adult I have
developed wings. I will live about one year.
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Fun Facts
They make their sound (music) by rubbing their
wings or legs together. They can jump 20 times the length of their body. That would be
like a 6' man jumping 120 feet. There are over 18,000 different species worldwide.
Bumble Bee
My Home: I live in small nests and do not swarm. The queen
will spend her entire life in the nest. The male drones once
hatched will mate with the queen, and fly off to live
independent lives.
What I eat: As an adult, I drink the nectar from flowers, or
juices from fruit. I will only produce enough honey to feed
the young bumblebees, which I store in honey pots.
What I look like: I am ¾ of an inch in length, have four
wings, a stinger at the end of my abdomen and am usually
yellow and black in color. I appear to be 'furry' compared to
other bees. I am bigger than a honey bee, but I am much less
aggressive and usually will only attack if I feel my life is in danger.
How I am born: Each spring the queen bee builds a nest out of wax.
She deposits an egg in each cell and pollen for food, then seals up the cell.
I hatch, go through larva and pupa stages, and develop into an adult worker bee,
cutting my way out of the wax cell. This takes about 21 days.
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Fun Facts
If you find yourself in the presence of a bumblebee, just stand quietly. Once it realizes
you're not a flower, it will move away. A bumble bee will die if it uses its stinger once.
Cricket
My Home: I am found in
North America and
throughout other parts of
the world. During the warm
summer months I am found in
fields, beneath rocks, or under
some other yard debris.
What I eat: I feed on plants and
sometimes other insects.
What I look like: I am related to the grasshopper
and the katydid. I am approximately one inch
in length, have great vision and with my
compound eyes can see in many
different directions at once. My wings
are usually too small to allow
me to fly. If I am a male cricket,
I can use my wings to make a chirping song instead.
How I am born: I go through three stages of development:
egg, nymph and adult. My egg is laid in the soil during the fall. When spring arrives my
egg hatches. As a new cricket I look like a small adult. I grow each time I shed my skin
(molt). I will live for about one year.
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Fun Facts
In many parts
of the world, crickets
are thought to bring
good luck. It is rumored
that crickets can tell the
outside temperature: Count the number of
chirps they make in one minute, divide by 4 and then add the number 40 to reach the
outside temperature. There are about 900 species of crickets worldwide.
Centipede
My Home: I prefer dark, damp environments and
you will find me under leaves, bark, and logs or
in your basement. I am most active at night
unless I am disturbed in my hiding places.
What I eat: I use my venomous
jaws to catch and eat other insects,
stunning or killing my prey with the poison.
What I look like: I am flat, reddish brown in color
and usually around 1 inch in length. My first pair of
legs are modified venomous jaws that I use to catch
other insects. If you pick me up, I may bite. I have a
single pair of legs on every segment of my body.
How I am born: I go through 2 stages of development:
egg and small adult. My egg is laid in the soil during the
warm summer months and the females care for my egg until I hatch. Adult centipedes
will protect my egg nests. When I hatch I look just like a small adult. To grow I shed my
skin which is called molting, adding a pair of legs each time I molt. I can live up to five
years.
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Fun Facts
The name centipede means 'hundred legs'. In the tropical regions, some centipedes can
get up to a foot long. A centipede is not an insect, it is a Chilopoda.
Madagascar hissing cockroaches hiss by exhaling air through breathing holes, a unique trait among insects.
Fast Facts
Type:
Bug
Diet:
Herbivore
Average life span in the wild:
2 to 5 years
Size:
2 to 3 in (5 to 7.5 cm) long
Weight:
Up to 0.8 oz (22.7 g)
Group name:
Colony
Did you know?
A small colony of hissing cockroaches can eat a large carrot in a single day.
Size relative to a paper clip:
This insect looks—and sounds—like anything but a run-of-the-mill roach. Madagascar hissing cockroaches are
one of many fascinating animal species to hail from the island of Madagascar.
These cockroaches are shiny brown and oval-shaped, with no wings and a single pair of antennae. Males sport
large horns, which give them an unusual and impressive appearance.
Males use their horns in aggressive encounters reminiscent of battles between horned or antlered mammals.
Rivals ram one another with their horns (or abdomens) and during the fight often unleash the amazing hisses
that give the animal its name. Winning roaches hiss more than losers, so the sounds may be used to help
determine a roach hierarchy.
Hissing is also part of the cockroach's mating ritual, and can be used as an effective alarm cry. Most insects that
make noise do so by rubbing their body parts together or by employing vibrating membranes. Madagascar
hissing cockroaches, however, exhale air through their breathing holes. This audible use of the respiratory
system is far more common in vertebrates.
Like 99 percent of all cockroach species, Madagascar hissing cockroaches are not pests and do not inhabit
human dwellings. These insects live on forest floors, where they hide amidst leaf litter, logs, and other detritus.
At night, they become more active and scavenge for meals, feeding primarily on fruit or plant materials.
The Madagascar hissing cockroach even begins its life in an unusual manner. Females create a cocoon-like egg
case called an ootheca and carry their eggs (and neonatal nymphs) inside their bodies. They then bear living
young—as many as 60 nymph roaches.
Drywood Termite
Drywood termites form colonies of up to 2,500 members. Drywood Termite
colonies don’t have workers. Younger termites, called "false workers", do all the
work for the colony.
Size: 3/8" to 1"
Legs: 6
Shape: Long, narrow, oval
Wings: Yes
Color: Light brown
Common Name: Drywood Termite
Antenna: Yes
Class: Insecta
Kingdom: Animalia
Order: Isoptera
Phylum: Arthropoda
Family: Kalotermitidae
Species: Varies
DIET
Drywood Termites eat wood, wallpaper, plastics and fabric made from plants.
HABITAT
Drywood Termite colonies are usually found in dry wood and they do not require moisture or contact
with the soil.
IMPACT
Drywood termites can build nests and dig tunnels in buildings. These tunnels cause major damage
because the wooden support beams can become weak and make the building lean or fall down.
PREVENTION
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Make sure firewood and scrap wood is stored away from your house.
Seal all cracks and crevices around the outside of your home.
Ladybugs, ladybirds, or lady beetles—whatever one calls them—are favored by farmers as voracious pesteaters.
Fast Facts
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Type:
Bug
Diet:
Omnivore
Average life span in the wild:
2 to 3 years
Size:
0.3 to 0.4 in (8 to 10 mm)
Size relative to a paper clip:
Many people are fond of ladybugs because of their colorful, spotted appearance. But farmers love them
for their appetite. Most ladybugs voraciously consume plant-eating insects, such as aphids, and in doing
so they help to protect crops. Ladybugs lay hundreds of eggs in the colonies of aphids and other planteating pests. When they hatch, the ladybug larvae immediately begin to feed. By the end of its three-tosix-week life, a ladybug may eat some 5,000 aphids.
Ladybugs are also called lady beetles or, in Europe, ladybird beetles. There are about 5,000 different
species of these insects, and not all of them have the same appetites. A few ladybugs prey not on planteaters but on plants. The Mexican bean beetle and the squash beetle are destructive pests that prey upon
the crops mentioned in their names.
Ladybugs appear as half-spheres, tiny, spotted, round or oval-shaped domes. They have short legs and
antennae.
Their distinctive spots and attractive colors are meant to make them unappealing to predators. Ladybugs
can secrete a fluid from joints in their legs which gives them a foul taste.
DEFENSE AGAINST PREDATORS: Their coloring is likely a reminder to any animals that have
tried to eat their kind before: "I taste awful." A threatened ladybug may both play dead and secrete the
unappetizing substance to protect itself.
MOSQUITO
Beyond the nuisance factor, mosquitoes are carriers, or vectors, for some of humanity’s most deadly illnesses,
and they are public enemy number one in the fight against global infectious disease. Mosquito-borne diseases
cause millions of deaths worldwide every year with a disproportionate effect on children and the elderly in
developing countries.
There are more than 3,000 species of mosquitoes, but the members of three bear primary responsibility for the
spread of human diseases. Anopheles mosquitoes are the only species known to carry malaria. They also
transmit filariasis (also called elephantiasis) and encephalitis. Culex mosquitoes carry encephalitis, filariasis,
and the West Nile virus. And Aedes mosquitoes, of which the voracious Asian tiger is a member, carry yellow
fever, dengue, and encephalitis.
Mosquitoes use exhaled carbon dioxide, body odors and temperature, and movement to home in on their
victims. Only female mosquitoes have the mouth parts necessary for sucking blood. When biting with their
proboscis, they stab two tubes into the skin: one to inject an enzyme that inhibits blood clotting; the other to
suck blood into their bodies. They use the blood not for their own nourishment but as a source of protein for
their eggs. For food, both males and females eat nectar and other plant sugars.
Mosquitoes transmit disease in a variety of ways. In the case of malaria, parasites attach themselves to the gut
of a female mosquito and enter a host as she feeds. In other cases, such as yellow fever and dengue, a virus
enters the mosquito as it feeds on an infected human and is transmitted via the mosquito’s saliva to a subsequent
victim.
The only silver lining to that cloud of mosquitoes in your garden is that they are a reliable source of food for
thousands of animals, including birds, bats, dragonflies, and frogs. In addition, humans are actually not the first
choice for most mosquitoes looking for a meal. They usually prefer horses, cattle, and birds.
All mosquitoes need water to breed, so eradication and population-control efforts usually involve removal
or treatment of standing water sources. Insecticide spraying to kill adult mosquitoes is also widespread.
However, global efforts to stop the spread of mosquitoes are having little effect, and many scientists think
global warming will likely increase their number and range.
Fast Facts
Type:
Bug
Diet:
Carnivore
Average life span in the wild:
2 weeks to 6 months
Size:
1/8 to 3/4 in (0.3 to 2 cm)
Weight:
Average 0.000088 oz (2.5 mg)
Group name:
Swarm
Did you know?
The red bump and itching caused by a mosquito bite is actually an allergic reaction to the mosquito’s
saliva.
Size relative to a paper clip:
Hornet
Fast Facts
Type:
Bug
Diet:
Omnivore
Average life span in the wild:
Several months (the queen lives through winter)
Size:
1.25 in (3.2 cm)
Group name:
Grist or hive
Size relative to a paper clip:
Hornets are wasps of the genus Vespa, closely related to (and resembling) yellowjackets. There are about 20
hornet species. Most live in tropical Asia, but the insects are also found in Europe, Africa, and North America,
where the European hornet was introduced by humans.
These social insects construct hives by chewing wood into a papery construction pulp. They mature from egg to
adult inside the community hive.
Queens dominate hornet hives and are the only females to reproduce. Most other hornets are asexual female
workers that perform essential community duties such as building the hive, gathering food, feeding the young,
and protecting the colony. Males are few and they have only one real role—mating with the queen. Males
typically die soon after their sexual task is complete.
In colder climes, hornet nests are abandoned in winter and only new, young queens (and their eggs) survive the
season by finding protected areas under tree bark or even inside human dwellings. In the spring, such a queen
will begin a new nest, and soon her young will become workers and take over the chores of the new hive—
leaving the queen to tend to reproduction. She will produce more workers to expand the hive and then, before
she dies, yield a breeding generation of new queens and males (drones) to restart the cycle of life.
These insects eat some tree sap but they are also accomplished predators. A hornet hive will eliminate many
flies, bees, and other insects.
Workers defend their hive with potent stingers. Though these insects do not sting humans unless provoked,
some people are allergic to their venom and can have very dangerous reactions to a sting.
Hornets are often considered pests, particularly when they nest near humans, because they will defend a nest
aggressively if they feel it is threatened. Though many people fear their sting, hornets usually get the worst of
such encounters when their nests are poisoned or destroyed. In some areas, such as Germany, they are granted
protection to preserve their role in the ecosystem.
Ant
Fast Facts
Type:
Bug
Diet:
Omnivore
Average life span in the wild:
Several weeks to several years
Size:
0.08 to 1 in (2 to 25 mm)
Group name:
Army or colony
Size relative to a paper clip:
Did you know?**INTERESTING FACT
Ants can lift and carry more than three times their own weight.
Ants are common insects, but they have some unique capabilities. More than 10,000 known ant species occur
around the world. They are especially prevalent in tropical forests, where they may be up to half of all the
insects living in some locations.
Ants look much like termites, and the two are often confused—especially by nervous homeowners. However,
ants have a narrow "waist" between the abdomen and thorax, which termites do not. Ants also have large heads,
elbowed antennae, and powerful jaws. These insects belong to the order Hymenoptera, which includes wasps
and bees.
Enthusiastically social insects, ants typically live in structured nest communities that may be located
underground, in ground-level mounds, or in trees. Carpenter ants nest in wood and can be destructive to
buildings. Some species, such as army ants, defy the norm and do not have permanent homes, instead seeking
out food for their enormous colonies during periods of migration.
Ant communities are headed by a queen or queens, whose function in life is to lay thousands of eggs that will
ensure the survival of the colony. Workers (the ants typically seen by humans) are wingless females that never
reproduce, but instead forage for food, care for the queen's offspring, work on the nest, protect the community,
and perform many other duties.
Male ants often have only one role—mating with the queen. After they have performed this function, they may
die.
Ants communicate and cooperate by using chemicals that can alert others to danger or lead them to a promising
food source. They typically eat nectar, seeds, fungus, or insects. However, some species have diets that are
more unusual. Army ants may prey on reptiles, birds, or even small mammals.
One Amazon species (Allomerus decemarticulatus) cooperatively builds extensive traps from plant fiber. These
traps have many holes and, when an insect steps on one, hundreds of ants inside use the openings to seize it
with their jaws.
Another species, the yellow crazy ant (Anoplolepis gracilipes), is capable of forming so-called supercolonies
that house multiple queens. On Australia’s Christmas Island, the accidental introduction of yellow crazy ants in
the early 20th century has led to a destructive infestation. The ants are a significant threat to the island’s
endemic population of red crabs, which are displaced by the ants from their burrows or killed as they pass
through ant nest sites during the crabs' large-scale annual migration from the forest to the coast.
Firefly (Lightning Bug)
My Home: I am found in humid, warm areas of the world, most often
in rotting wood, by the edges of stream, ponds, drainage ditches or
in some other moist area. The greatest numbers of fireflies are found
in Asia and South America.
What I eat: As a larva, I eat earthworms, snails and slugs. As an
adult, I eat pollen or other insects.
What I look like: I am approximately ¾ of an inch long,
and I usually am black with two red spots on my head,
with my outer casing outlined in yellow.
How I am born: I go through four stages of
development: egg, larva, pupa and adult. The
eggs are deposited in the ground and hatch in
about a month. As a larva, I feed all summer long
and hibernate during the winter. The next summer,
I emerge and in about six weeks become an adult.
Some species can live for several years by hibernating
as larva during the winter.
Fun Facts
In the late evening
the firefly will 'flash' a
yellowish light to communicate with
other fireflies. The males will flash
approximately every five seconds and the females
will flash approximately every two seconds. Many fireflies do not
produce light.
Cicada
My Home: I am found in North America
and throughout other parts of the world.
I spend most of my life underground as a
nymph. For the month I am an adult, I can be
found on trees, plants, fences, houses and
almost anywhere.
What I eat: As a nymph, I suck the sap
from the roots of trees. As an adult, I
have piercing sucking mouthparts and
drink the juices from plant stems.
What I look like: I have transparent wings
that can have many patterns or colors, red
eyes with a black body and will grow up to be
about 3 inches long.
How I am born: I go through three stages of
development: egg, nymph and adult. My egg is laid
in tree branches and when I hatch I fall to the ground.
In my larval stage I am called a nymph and I can live in the
ground for many years. Some periodic broods or nests of cicada
larvae live in the ground for 17 years! I emerge from the ground and
attach myself to trees, plants, or structures until I pop out of my skin
and become an adult. As an adult, I only live from 2 weeks to 40
days.
Fun Facts
You can hear the
cicada's song for up to
½ mile away and they only
sing during the daytime. The cicada
makes the loudest sound of any insect. There
are approximately 2,500 cicada species in the world.
Dragonflies
What do they look like?
Immature dragonflies have six spindly legs, and a body that is only a few times longer than it
is wide. They have two fairly big eyes. Some of their mouthparts are modified to shoot
forward and grab prey. They breathe water through gills in their abdomen, and can squirt
this water out fast to give themselves a quick jet-propelled movement. Adult dragonflies are
easy to recognize. They have long thin bodies, very large eyes, and they hold their 2 pairs of
wings out flat on either side. Their legs sometimes have many long stiff hairs. Immature
dragonflies are usually brown or greenish, and sometimes have algae growing on them.
Adult dragonflies can be very colorful, some are red, blue, yellow, or green.
Where in the world do they live?
Dragonflies are found all over the world. In Michigan there are 114 species
What kind of habitat do they need?
Immature dragonflies live in freshwater. They are most abundant an diverse in slow-moving
freshwater that has no fish (small streams and ponds) but can be found in many shallow
freshwater habitats. Adult dragonflies often stay near water, but sometimes travel away from
water while hunting or on migration. They are fast fliers, so they tend to hunt in open areas,
not in thick trees or other vegetation.
Aquatic Biomes:
lakes and ponds; rivers and streams.
Wetlands:
marsh; swamp; bog.
How do they grow?
Dragonflies hatch from eggs in freshwater, and spent at least a few months (sometimes
several years) as aquatic predators. As they grow they molt (shed their whole skin at once)
many times. Once they are big enough, they crawl out of the water and the adult stage
emerges from the skin of the nymph. Once they have transformed into the winged adult
stage, the stop growing.
Most dragonfly species spend the winter as nymphs in the water, but some migrate south,
and spend the winter as adults. In few species that lay their eggs in the late summer or fall,
the eggs don't hatch until spring. Dragonflies emerge from the water in the warm months of
spring or summer.
How long do they live?
Dragonflies live for months at least, and some live for several years as aquatic larvae before
emerging and living for a few months as adults.
How do they behave?
Dragonflies need sunny warm weather to fly, usually the temperature must be over 65°C. If it
is too cold or wet, they hide in vegetation. Adult male dragonflies often establish territories
along the edges of ponds or streams. They only defend the territory against other males of
their species. Some large dragonfly species migrate south to warmer climates at the end of
the summer. Their offspring may then migrate north the following year.
How do they communicate with each other?
Adult dragonflies communicate visually much more than most other insects. Males fight
aerial duels for territory, displaying their size and speed to each other. Mating pairs probably
communicate by touch, possibly chemically too
What do they eat?
Dragonflies in their aquatic stage eat many kinds of small animals: aquatic insects, tadpoles,
small fish, and other invertebrates. Adult dragonflies eat flying insects, especially mosquitoes
and other true flies, but also aphids, smaller dragonflies, damselflies, and just about any other
insects they can grab.
What eats them and how do they avoid being eaten?
Known predators
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frogs
fish
large spiders
insect-eating birds
Immature dragonflies avoid predators by hiding, and by jetting away if they have to. Adult
dragonflies avoid predators with their quick and agile flight, and hide in vegetation when it is
too cold to fly.
What roles do they have in the ecosystem?
Dragonflies are sometimes the top predators in ponds with no fish. Adult dragonflies help
control populations of mosquitos and other flies.
How do they interact with us?
Dragonflies help control populations of biting flies like mosquitos.