What do dragonflies eat? – Animals Meal

Have you ever been to a pond and seen a winged one? insect zip beyond your vision? Chances are, the beautiful buzzing creature you saw was a… dragonfly. Dragonflies belong to the order Odonata and the infraorder Anisoptera, meaning ‘unequal wing’. Not to be confused with the similar dragonfly, dragonflies are agile fliers and aerial predators. More than 3000 extant species of dragonflies exist, making them a very diverse group of insects. While most dragonflies live in tropical areas, others live in more temperate zones. You can usually find them in wetland environments, such as rivers, lakes, swamps or ponds. While some species have long nymphal or infant stages, most adult dragonflies only live for a few days or weeks. During that time, they need to make sure they eat enough food to have the energy to reproduce. That said, what do dragonflies eat?

To answer this question, we need to examine the habitats of different dragonflies in their different life cycle stages. We will examine what foods dragonflies usually like to eat, as well as how they hunt for food. Furthermore, we discuss what they eat in the wild compared to what dragonflies eat in captivity. Finally, we dive into the diet of a nymph or baby dragonfly. Keep reading to learn all about what dragonflies eat.

What do dragonflies like to eat?

Dragonflies are almost exclusively carnivorous, meaning they eat other animal material. These aerial predators stalk and devour their prey with a voracious appetite, and many are skilled hunters. In fact, they represent one of nature’s most efficient and ruthless hunters due to their predatory behavior and high success rate. Their diet includes a wide variety of other insects, usually smaller and less powerful. Dragonflies need to eat a lot to have enough energy, so they often focus on quantity over quality of their food. They eat different foods depending on their life cycle stage. Adult dragonflies tend to eat other flying insects while nymph dragonflies tend to eat ground-dwelling insects and animals. To help answer the “what do dragonflies eat” question, we identified 15 common foods in a dragonfly’s diet. These foods include:

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• mosquitoes
• mosquitoes
• butterflies
• moths
• mayflies
• damselflies
• dragonflies
• bees
• to fly
• worms
• mosquitoes
• larvae
• frogs
• tadpoles
• small fish

Dragonflies will eat almost anything smaller than them. They are not picky eaters and will even target smaller dragonflies if present. The typical dragonfly can eat up to a fifth of its one body weight each day, and some can eat even more. As such, they eat pretty much anything they can catch. That said, their favorite foods are mosquitoes and gnats. Their ability to control mosquito populations makes them extremely useful in stopping the spread of mosquito-borne diseases.

How do dragonflies hunt for food?

The first dragonflies arose about 300 million years ago, making them one of the first winged insects. Some of the earliest dragonflies had wingspans nearly 2 feet long. Although today’s modern dragonflies are not nearly as large, they still have keen senses. Unlike most insects, a dragonfly’s antennae are small and don’t help it smell, taste, or touch. Instead, a dragonfly uses its antennae to help it fly. That said, some evidence suggests they possess rudimentary olfactory receptors. Dragonflies also cannot hear like other insects and instead rely on their amazing eyesight to hunt. They have huge compound eyes equipped with binoculars and color vision. A dragonfly has a 360-degree field of view, and almost all of its brainpower is devoted to processing images. Since it can process nearly 300 frames per second, they can practically see in slow motion.

Adult dragonflies catch their prey in the air. They can catch smaller prey with their jaws alone, or they can pack larger insects with their spiky legs. If the prey is small enough, they eat their meal in the air. Otherwise, a dragonfly will fly to a perch and eat its prey while sitting. Their normal method is to bite the head of their prey first and then consume the rest of the body. However, they will usually discard unwanted body parts, such as the wings. Meanwhile, nymph-stage young dragonflies use their retractable jaws to capture prey. They usually lie in hiding until unsuspecting prey swims by. When the time comes, they will lunge forward and catch their food in their lower jaws. To generate power, they will pull in and then expel water from their anus. This allows them to shoot forward and surprise their prey.

What do dragonflies eat in the wild?

In the wild, dragonflies are random hunters, eating anything they can catch. Since dragonflies live in different regions and habitats, they also eat a wide assortment of prey. That said, there are some common themes in terms of what most wild dragonflies eat on a daily basis. In the nymph stage, wild baby dragonflies eat aquatic insects, grubs and grubs. Larger nymphs will also consume small fish, tadpoles and even small ones frogs. For example, some larger nymphs will explode out of the water and attack small tree frogs. Meanwhile, adult dragonflies prefer to eat mainly flying insects. Their favorite targets are mosquitoes, gnats and mayflies. That said, they will eat too beetles, to fly, moths, butterflies, and even bees. As long as the other insect is smaller, an adult dragonfly will eat just about anything it can catch.

What do dragonflies eat in captivity?

While it is fun to raise, it can be difficult to raise dragonflies. If you plan to keep adult dragonflies, remember that they only live for a few weeks. Most people who choose to raise dragonflies will raise them from their nymph stage. During this time, you can feed a baby dragonfly water fleas, insect larvae, worms or even small tadpoles and fish. Remember to only give food that is the same size or smaller than the dragonfly and to regularly replace uneaten fo
od
. Adult dragonflies can get live mosquitoes, flies, gnats, bees, beetles and even other dragonflies. They can eat dozens of mosquitoes in one day, so make sure you provide an adult dragonfly with enough food. Always consult a local insect expert before feeding your pet dragonfly new food.

What do baby dragonflies eat?

Dragonflies do not have a pupal stage and instead go through several nymphal stages before reaching adulthood. They spend the majority of their lives as nymphs and can go through as many as a dozen stages, depending on the species. Baby dragonflies spend most of their time below the surface of the water. However, some species will also spend time outside of the water, especially while feeding. Their toothed jaws can quickly protrude forward, allowing them to catch prey. Some of their favorite foods are insect larvae and bloodworms. That said, they will also eat small fish and tadpoles. A select few species are large enough to attack and kill small frogs. If you’re raising baby dragonflies, you can try feeding them water fleas, also known as water fleas. Other common feeds include mosquito and housefly larvae.