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One of Nature's
Most Impressive
Flying Machines
simulated flight path
of a dragonfly
Dragonflies!
They are amazing creatures!
However, they scared me when I was a kid.
I thought they were totally weird looking,
just way too freaky.
But it is funny how things change when
you get older. Now I love seeing them!
I will sit and watch them, completely fascinated by their beauty and how they fly.
You haven't seen the most amazing acrobatic flying until you see a dragonfly zig-zag, weave, turn on a dime,
and change direction instantaneously.
They are going one direction
and then BAM!!!
They totally change direction in a
fraction of a second!
Not only can they do all that,
they can also fly backwards and sideways.
They can hover too!
Their purpose in all this tactical flying is
to catch their food, such as mosquitos,
flies, moths. etc. They can catch
almost all of their prey which is
very impressive. If you want to get technical, their success rate is around
95 percent! That makes them one of
the top predators on earth.
Some folks say they are the very top one!
How can they maneuver so well when they are flying? Here are several things that make it possible ...
Speed:
They are one of the fastest insects, able to fly up to 35 mph.
Fast flight makes for very impressive maneuvering around the sky.
Vision:
They have almost total panoramic vision, they can see all around them except directly behind them.
They have two compound eyes
which are HUGE, each with
almost 30,000 lenses.
Additionally, they have three simple smaller eyes called ocelli.
They have terrific vision which makes catching their prey so much easier.
Since they can see their prey so well, they zip all over the place,
doing their crazy moves to catch them.
Wings:
Dragonflies have two sets of wings, for a total of four wings.
Their wings can beat up to 30 times per second. They can twist their wings at any angle. And they can control each of their wings independently of each other.
All of this makes for some crazy maneuvering skills!
Mighty Warriors:
By the way, we should give them
a standing ovation and major praise,
as one can eat between thirty and hundreds of mosquitos per day!
That makes them heroes in my eyes!
So it appears dragonflies are yet
more proof that nature is truly fascinating!
Like all of nature, they are ...
STINKIN' AMAZING!!!
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