damselfly
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What is a damselfly?
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How can you tell a damselfly apart from a dragonfly?
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Where do damselflies live?
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What do damselflies eat?
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How does a damselfly grow and develop during its life?
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Why are damselflies important to their ecosystems?
damselfly, (suborder Zygoptera), any of about 2,600 species of predatory, aerial insects that are found mainly near shallow, freshwater habitats. Often stunningly vivid in color, damselflies are graceful fliers with slender bodies and long, filmy, net-veined wings. They are generally smaller, more delicate, and fly weakly in comparison with dragonflies (suborder Anisoptera), to which they are closely related.
In 2021 the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) released the first global assessment of damselflies as an update to their Red List of Threatened Species. The study found that widespread habitat loss in wetlands and along rivers is contributing to the decline of damselfly species around the world, with 16 percent of dragonflies and damselflies now at risk of extinction.
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Arthropoda
- Class: Insecta
- Order: Odonata
- Suborder: Zygoptera
See also list of insects.
Physical description
Adults are easily recognized by their two pairs of narrow, transparent wings, sloping thorax, and long, usually slender body; the abdomen is almost always longer than any of the wings. Damselflies can usually be distinguished from dragonflies by their thinner, needlelike abdomens and by the way they hold their wings when at rest. With few exceptions, damselflies hold their wings vertically and together, rather than horizontally and spread apart. Also, the four wings are almost identical in size and shape and in the vein patterns. Wingspans among damselfly species range from 18 mm (0.71 inch) to about 19 cm (7.5 inches) in Megaloprepus caerulatus, a giant damselfly of tropical Central and South America.
The large eyes of damselflies differ from those of dragonflies in that they are always widely separated, rather than close together or touching each other.
Life cycle
Immature damselflies, called larvae (or sometimes nymphs or naiads), are, with very few exceptions, aquatic predators in freshwater habitats such as ponds, streams, and even tree holes. The larvae capture prey by shooting out the long, hinged lower lip, or “mask.” A damselfly larva is distinguishable from a dragonfly larva by its breathing apparatus. Most damselflies usually have three leaflike gills at the tip of the abdomen, whereas dragonflies have internal gills. After emerging from the larval stage, the damselfly takes to the air to feed and mate.
The adults prey in flight, mainly on small insects. They are indiscriminate feeders except for the members of one family (Pseudostigmatidae), which are specialists that pluck spiders from their webs. In some species mating is preceded by elaborate courtship by the male. In two families the male hovers in front of the female while displaying his brightly colored wings, abdomen, or legs, sometimes in combination. To mate, damselflies join together in the “wheel” position and commonly fly in tandem this way. Afterward, the male will usually remain attached to the female as she lays eggs. When doing so he retains his grip on the front portion of the female’s thorax, using claspers located at the tip of his abdomen.
- Related Topics:
- Odonata
Female damselflies normally use a bladelike ovipositor to place eggs inside plant tissue. Several species frequently lay eggs under water, the female at times remaining submerged for an hour or more. A male, usually her last mate, often waits above and may help her rise from the water after she surfaces.