dragonfly habitat dragonfly

Introducing Dragonflies

The order Odonata consists of two suborders: Damselflies – Zygoptera, and true Dragonflies – Anisoptera. It is thought to be a very old order going back some 300 million years.

There are close to 6000 species in the world (mid-2017), with 120 species found in Europe. Nearly 170 species have been found in Southern Africa, with some 850 species thought to occur in the African continent south of the Sahara.

Although my present list of species is fairly modest, I have been able to study several species in detail and I have presented the various immature and mature colour vars. found in Ischnura elegans, as set out in K-D Dijkstra's excellent book, (see list below).

I hope that you enjoy the photographs of these amazing and beautiful insects, and will leave a comment if appropriate.

dragonfly dragonfly
Dragonflies