Can Dragonflies Walk? 5 Amazing Facts About Their Bodies

There’s a small handful of flying insects that are considered aesthetically pleasing to many human beings. We’ve got butterflies, we’ve got ladybugs, and we’ve got dragonflies. Dragonflies are visually exquisite due to their gorgeous wings and elegant glide. Dragonflies are located in tropical climates most of the time, but it’s occasionally possible to spot them around temperate regions. Have you ever wondered whether or not a dragonfly can walk? We know they can soar through the sky to get from point A to point B, but can they also use their legs to scurry along the ground the way bees can? Here’s the truth about the use of dragonfly legs, plus some other jaw-dropping facts about their complex bodies.

Can Dragonflies Walk Using Their Legs?

Even though dragonflies have six legs, they are incapable of using those legs for walking. Their legs come in handy when they need to grip a particular surface to perch their body in times of rest. You’ll easily be able to spot a dragonfly perched on flower petals or leaf stems, but any movement beyond that isn’t going to happen. Dragonflies also use their six legs to capture and hold onto their prey. They’re good at catching smaller insects like mosquitoes and flies with their six legs to satiate their appetites. This is something they can do while flying through the air. Some people believe that ancient dragonflies made a trade of sorts, causing them to lose their ability to walk. These ancient beliefs state that every species on earth agrees to make certain trade-offs through evolution to ensure more long-lasting survival rates. If this ancient belief is legitimate, dragonflies were smart with the trade they made. They’re considered highly successful predators, and they have been for millions of years now. Even if they can’t walk, they’re still doing just fine using their legs to catch prey and using their legs to rest their wings when needed.

Dragonfly Wings Are Impressively Intricate

Since dragonflies are only able to get around through the power of flight, their wings are a hugely important factor regarding their bodies. Their wings are special in multiple ways because they are both beautiful and durable. Dragonfly wings come in sets of four, but each wing operates independently with its own set of muscles. Since dragonflies independently control all four of their wings, it’s easy for dragonflies to switch flight directions at the drop of a hat. It’s also easy for them to fly through the sky faster than other insects that also have wings. Unfortunately, a broken wing won’t heal after a dragonfly has already gone through some sort of trauma. Still, this doesn’t mean their life is doomed. If one of the four wings on a dragonfly gets damaged, it’s still possible for a dragonfly to fly. Dragonfly wings are made out of thin layers of chitin, a naturally occurring polymer. Chitin is smooth, glassy, and reflective. Some dragonflies have wings that look iridescent or clear. Others showcase pretty colors ranging from teal and purple to blue and black.

Dragonfly Eyes Have Several Thousand Photoreceptors

Some insects are completely blind and forced to use their sense of smell and sound to survive. Dragonflies happen to be a lot luckier than that, though. They’ve got the largest compound eyes of any insect, similar to bees. Their eyes contain upwards of 30,000 facets, which says a lot about the strength of their vision. The facets can each create their images. This allows a dragonfly’s brain to observe all those different images at one time to mentally come up with one solid picture. The vision of a dragonfly is so fierce and impressive. This is why it’s not all that challenging for them to catch prey when they’re hungry. They’re successful in catching their prey around 95% of the time.

Do Dragonflies Have Teeth in Their Mouths?

If you’re curious to know whether or not dragonflies bite or sting, the answer revolves around what’s in their mouth. Dragonflies do indeed have sharp, pointy jaws. They use their jaws to chow down on smaller insects that they consider to be prey. The good news is that dragonflies aren’t harmful or dangerous to humans. They are not poisonous and they typically won’t try to bite people under normal circumstances. This means that dragonflies can land on you and you don’t have to freak out about it. It’s still possible for a dragonfly to bite you, but this fear simply doesn’t have to be at the top of your radar.

The Long Part of a Dragonfly is its Abdomen

When you don’t solely focus on a dragonfly’s wings, it’s easy to notice their long-stemmed abdomens. A dragonfly’s abdomen is always very thin and always flexible to the touch. Their abdomens are separated by 10 segments that are often easy to see when you observe a dragonfly up close. On a male dragonfly, the appendages you see at the tip of the abdomen are called claspers. A dragonfly’s abdomen is where their reproductive organs exist. This long-stemmed body part also serves as a mode of counterbalancing for dragonflies as they live their lives. When a female dragonfly is ready to lay eggs, she’ll dip her abdomen into a fresh body of water to do so.

The photo featured at the top of this post is © AgriTech/Shutterstock.com