Dragonflies are lovely to look at. BEAUTIFUL BEAST Taking a break from hunting, a saffron- winged meadowhawk dragonfly Unless you’re a mosquito or rests on a leaf. Sunlight shining through its wings refracts into a prism of colors. other prey. By Dave SheparD PHOTO BY JOHN ASHLEY MAY –JUNE 2019 FWP.MT.GOV/MTOUTDOORS MONTANA OUTDOORS he most efficient predator in the where the prey is going and the appropriate UNDERWATER TERRORS animal kingdom doesn’t have huge muscle commands to intercept it,” neuro- A dragonfly begins life as an egg, laid inside claws, fearsome fangs, or sharp scientist Anthony Leonardo of the Howard plant tissue or directly in water. Eggs hatch talons. Its body isn’t covered by fur or feath - Hughes Medical Institute in Maryland told into aquatic nymphs, the form in which a ers, and it most certainly does not appear to the BBC in 2015. dragonfly spends most of its life. The larval Dragonfly nymph be well camouflaged. Dragonflies are one of the most ancient stage lasts only a few months for smaller This fearsome predator weighs less than flying insects. They first appeared almost species, but it extends to over five years for an ounce, has six legs and four wings, and 300 million years ago, predating dinosaurs. larger ones. The nymphs are as accomplished outer skin, and emerges as an adult dragon - can often be a brilliant iridescent color. It’s That has given them a long time to perfect at hunting underwater as their adult forms fly. Depending on the species, it will live the dragonfly. their flying and hunting skills. are in the air. When chasing prey, nymphs from only a few weeks to almost two years. Dragonflies have the highest success More than 5,000 species of dragonflies expel water though gills in the rectum, creat - rate of any predator. Wolves are successful and the closely related damselflies occur ing a type of jet propulsion. A hinged, toothed AERIAL ACES less than 20 percent of the time when they worldwide. The smallest wingspans are just mouth part called a labium shoots forward Dragonflies may be the most accomplished The continual search for Montana odonates try to catch prey. In South Africa’s Kruger three-quarters of an inch, while the largest and rapidly retracts, capturing and pulling fliers in the insect world. This is in large part National Park, six of seven leopard hunts span more than six inches. Scientists have prey to their mouth. These voracious feeders due to the unique muscles that operate their People began to study Montana’s odonates (dragonflies and damselflies) in the 1870s, end in failure. Studies of Bengal tigers in identified 34 damselfly species and 59 drag - eat almost anything they can capture, includ - wings. Most insects’ wings are indirectly when H. Hagen conducted natural history surveys of what would soon be Yellowstone India’s Kanha National Park estimate that onfly species in Montana, the largest with a ing mosquito and other insect larvae, blood - operated by muscles attached to the thorax. National Park. Over the next century, several other authors contributed to that base of just one in 20 hunts results in a kill. Yet wingspan of about four inches. worms, tadpoles, and even small fish. When the muscles contract, the entire knowledge. In 1975, George Roemhild produced a comprehensive paper covering the Harvard University researchers have found Dragonflies and damselflies belong to the Dragonflies undergo what’s known as thorax flexes, causing the wings to move. This damselfly species in Montana. In the mid-1990s, Kelly Miller and Daniel Gustafson pre - that dragonflies capture prey such as mos - order Odonata, from the Greek odontos , an incomplete metamorphosis. They do not is like trying to flex your shoulder blades by sented a concise list of all known odonate species in Montana, along with notes on quitoes in 90 to 97 percent of attempts. meaning “toothed one.” Though they don’t have a pupal stage; the adult emerges taking a deep breath. It’s an efficient use of the history, known distribution, and potential species that likely lived here but hadn’t “The brain uses a highly optimized hunting have teeth like most carnivores, dragonflies directly from the nymph. When ready to energy, but limits maneuverability. yet been seen. At that time, 80 odonate species were known to occur in Montana. strategy that allows the dragonfly to predict possess powerful serrated mandibles, or jaw - become an adult, the nymph makes its way The dragonfly’s wing muscles are Recent aquatic insect surveys conducted by Dave Stagliano while working for the bones, used to hold and crush prey. Even to the water surface, generally at night, and attached directly to a hinged base on each Montana Natural Heritage Program boosted the understanding of odonates here. Dave Shepard is a writer and photographer better than teeth, you might say, considering begins to breathe air. It crawls out of the wing. While the fore and hind wings of most I began adding to the knowledge base of this fascinating group of insects start - in Bozeman. the dragonfly’s predatory proficiency. water onto a reed or other plant, molts its four-winged insects are coupled and move ing in 2008. Fueled by personal interest, I began researching the known distribution, together, each of the dragonfly’s four wings habitat requirements, and occurrence potential of Montana's odonates. Using new has its own set of muscles and can be oper - technologies such as Google Earth satellite imaging, I identified potential habitats ated independently. This allows dragonflies of dragonfly and damselfly species not yet known to occur in those areas. The sites to change direction and speed far faster than often contained populations of species I’d hoped to find. Flame skimmer dragonfly most insects. Over the past decade, fellow odonate enthusiast Bob Martinka (a retired FWP In addition to the independent wing senior manager) and I sampled sites and habitat types in every Montana county. We movement, a dragonfly’s wing structure is have added 13 new species to Montana’s odonate list and expanded the known range remarkably stabile and strong. of many other species, some of which had previously been documented from only a These attributes allow some large drag - single location. To date, 59 species of dragonflies and 34 species of damselflies have onflies to fly at speeds of more than 30 miles been documented within Montana. All of this recently gathered data has been pre- per hour. Dragonflies can also fly in six di - sented to the Montana Natural Heritage Program and deposited within Odonata S R rections—left, right, up, down, forward, and Central, a national database that houses the most comprehensive range maps of O O D T backward—and hover in place for as long as North American odonates. n U O A a minute. You’d think all this flying ability N A T —Nate Kohler, Deer Lodge, is a naturalist N would require an insanely rapid wingbeat. O M specializing in birds and odonates. / N Yet a dragonfly beats its wings a relatively A R U D modest 30 times per second. Compare that E K U L with bees, which beat their wings more than Y B N O 200 times per second, or a mosquito, whose I T A R T wings beat up to 800 times per second. S U L L I One disadvantage of the dragonfly’s zippy, O T O H multidirectional flight is that it requires vast P ; K C amounts of energy. To fuel this demand, a O T S R E dragonfly must eat 20 percent or more of its T T H U G H U body weight daily. For a paddle-tailed darner, S R : B O N T R O that means consuming about 80 mosquitoes. O H P H T H Dragonflies use their six specialized legs Y P C M A Y T S N to form a basket and catch their prey while MONTANA OUTDOORS flying. They subdue prey with a dragonflies will be nearby. bite from the powerful man- Field guides help with identi - dibles, stripping off the wings fication. My favorite is Dragon - before devouring the unlucky flies and Damselflies of the West by insect. Many dragonfly species Dennis Paulson. Online, try perform this midair. odesforbeginners.com. Smart - Despite having powerful legs, phone apps like “Dragonfly and dragonflies cannot walk; they Damselfly Field Guide” also are are only able to perch. handy. Note that there are many diverse dragonfly species, in - THE EYES HAVE IT cluding cruisers, darners, skim - A dragonfly has huge eyes mers, emeralds, and hawkers. containing up to 30,000 lenses. Dragonflies and damselflies Its curved eyes give the insect a are important beyond their cap - nearly 360-degree field of tivating appearance and behav - vision, with only a small blind ior. For instance, they indicate spot directly behind its head. the health or weakness of eco- Dragonflies may perceive more HINDSIGHT a closeup of a common green darner shows how this systems. Currently six dragonfly dragonfly’s huge, curved eyes provide it with a nearly 360-degree colors than humans can even and one damselfly species are field of vision. imagine. We have three light- listed as “species of concern” by sensitive proteins, called opsins, the Montana Natural Heritage in our retinas. Each opsin absorbs one method to close the gap between them - Program. This is primarily a result of habitat color—in our case red, blue, or green. Drag - selves and big game animals like elk. loss, entomologists say.