Wildflower Blog

For Dragonflies to breed, they need quite specific requirements from their habitat. The life cycle of a dragonfly dictates that they are found mostly near water, but it is not always the case. They prefer open areas such as a grassland or meadow and will not be found under trees.

It is extremely gratifying to observe a dragonfly in your garden. Although not complicated or difficult, one can only achieve this if you truly understand the dragonfly's life cycle and habitat requirements and ecology. Here are some interesting facts about these amazing, purpose-built insects.

Interesting facts about Dragonflies

Dragonflies have been around for a very, very long time. The oldest fossils date back about 325 million years - much older than the dinosaurs. Humans were not even on the drawing board yet. Their ancestors, referred to as Griffinflies, had an enormous wingspan of up to 75cm!

Dragonflies are insects that cannot easily be confused with any other creature. Their long, thin, slender colourful bodies, six legs, very large eyes, and two pairs of transparent wings give them a very characteristic appearance.

It is what they can do with their bodies that puts them in a class of their own.

Most of the dragonfly's head is taken up by their huge eyes, so they have incredible vision that encompasses every angle except right behind them.

The extraordinary wings allow them immense acceleration and great speed. Even more amazing, the wing construction also allows them to propel themselves up, down, forward, backward and side to side while in flight. They can even hover like a helicopter. The flight of the dragonfly is so special that it has inspired engineers who dream of making robots that can fly like dragonflies.

Dragonflies are predators and will eat almost any small insect. They tend to only catch prey and eat while flying. Dragonflies catch their insect prey by grabbing it with their feet and then their serrated teeth do the rest. It can consume up to 100 mosquitoes in a day. What makes them really remarkable as a predator is that it is the only predator with close to 100 % strike rate. (Lions battle to get to 20%).

The Life Cycle of a Dragonfly

If you spot a dragonfly in your garden, you are doing something right.

It is clearly a very beneficial addition to any garden but they are fussy about their habitat. After 300 million years you certainly know what you are looking for. To understand their needs it is important to understand their life cycle.

Eggs are dropped in shallow water that normally contains decomposed leaves or mud at the bottom.

After a few weeks the eggs hatch in this bottom layer and a larva, normally referred to as a nymph, appears. They are voracious predators and will eat almost anything - tadpoles, mosquitoes, fish, other insect larvae and even each other. This aquatic phase can last between 6 months and two years. As they grow, the nymph will shed its skin to make way for a bigger body. This happens several times.

At the final stage the nymph will leave the water by crawling up overhanging vegetation, and when the skin cracks open this time, the dragonfly emerges. Most body parts are soft due to the dense packing in the nymph skin, but once they have elongated their tail (almost like extending a telescope) and unrolled their wings, they are ready for action within a few hours.

Create a Dragonfly friendly garden

Let us translate this life cycle into habitat requirement within the garden.

Firstly, shallow water with some debris is the starting point. The dragonfly will also require a perch such as overhanging grass or sedge from where the eggs can be released. But note that the undisturbed pond must be functional throughout the year and should never be disturbed or cleaned.

If you're interested in creating a Dragonfly friendly garden, you can read more about attracting Dragonflies to the garden in this interesting article, or visit Random Harvest Indigenous Nursery for suitable plants to include in your garden.