How dragonflies rely heavily on their vision for hunting and survival

This was wherefore I was astounded erstwhile I came crossed 2 dragonflies that had made an unsuccessful h2o landing successful the excavation successful Goa. They looked precisely similar crashed biplanes, with their fuselages broken, gossamer wings outspread. Had they been flying drunk and simply collided successful midair? They are mating similar brainsick astatine this time, and I person seen them dip debased implicit the h2o occasionally kissing the surface: possibly they were misled by the agleam bluish reflection of the entity successful the water, and the airy bluish tiles astatine the bottom, and simply came down excessively debased to onslaught their ain reflections.

I cognize they laic their eggs connected works stems successful water, but determination were nary plants successful the pool. Some taxon may, perhaps, simply deposit their eggs connected the h2o aboveground and hence, dip down to bash truthful and spell excessively heavy similar a pitchy experiencing a serious, irrecoverable process strike. Or, which seems much apt had determination been a dogfight implicit the h2o — they are highly territorial — and the crashed ones had simply been ‘shot down’ by having a helping disabled? Actually, some combatants would person tumbled down had they tangled successful mid-air (like the mode raptors similar eagles sometimes do), attempting to wound each other’s wings oregon heads off, and this seems to person been astir likely. Once successful the water, they are helpless arsenic their delicate wings get waterlogged.

What was a small alarming, however, was erstwhile I picked them up, their agelong bodies seemed to person been softening and dissolving — a tenderising reaction, possibly to the toxic chlorine being sprinkled successful the excavation each evening? (No wonderment each the different insects and frogs that had fallen successful astatine 1 clip oregon another, were dead.) And dragonfly abdomens are tough, segmented and designed to sorb the interaction of the flying insect hitting prey astatine speeds of up to 90 kph!

There is surely overmuch aerial combat successful advancement implicit the excavation arsenic they defender their idiosyncratic aerial corridors — flying up and down connected patrol,  swiftly chasing distant interlopers. I truly wonderment if they volition ever realise that a chlorinated swimming excavation is not the perfect situation to deposit eggs: determination are nary aquatic plants present and the h2o is toxic. But it does supply a profitable hunting crushed arsenic determination are different tiny insects — and different dragonflies flying implicit it — upon which to prey. And dragonflies are said to person a occurrence complaint of 95 per cent successful their hunts.

This communicative has a somewhat bittersweet ending though. Just arsenic I had finished penning my notes astir what I had observed and was getting up, determination astatine my feet connected the tiles laic a dormant dragonfly with its wings outspread. There were nary signs of injury. I picked it up and placed it connected the balcony railing to photograph it. Before I could, a gentle susurration of breeze whisked it distant depositing it connected the parapet beneath. Here it laic and then, was taken isolated conception by conception by ample achromatic ants, till determination were lone the outspread wings and bulbous caput left, similar a benignant of fossilised representation of what erstwhile had been. And overnight the wings and caput excessively vanished. Nature’s clean-up unit had done their job.