Dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. There are about 3,000 extant species of true dragonfly are known. Most are are found in the tropica areal, with fewer species in temperate regions.

Loss of wetland habitat threatens dragonfly populations around the world.

Adult dragonflies are characterized by a pair of large, multifaceted compound eyes, two pairs of strong, transparent wings, sometimes with colored patches, and an elongated body. Many dragonflies have brilliant iridescent or metallic colors produced by structural coloration, making them conspicuous in flight. An adult dragonfly's compound eyes have nearly 24,000 immaterial each. Nearly all of the dragonfly’s head is eye, so they have incredible vision that encompasses almost every angle except right behind them.

Dragonflies can reach speeds of up to 35 miles an hour and fly just as gracefully backward by lifting off vertically, helicopter style. Their compound eyes are so large they nearly touch..They can fly straight up and down, hover like a helicopter and even mate mid-air. If they can’t fly, they’ll starve because they only eat prey they catch while flying.

Dragonflies catch their insect prey by grabbing it with their feet. They’re so efficient in their hunting that, in one Harvard University study, the dragonflies caught 90 to 95 percent of the prey released into their enclosure.
 

Flying insects are usually creepy, but many people love dragonflies. But there’s something magical about dragonflies.

Dragonflies were some of the first winged insects to evolve, some 300 million years ago. Modern dragonflies have wingspans of only two to five inches, but fossil dragonflies have been found with wingspans of up to two feet.
 Some scientists theorize that high oxygen levels during the Paleozoic era allowed dragonflies to grow to monster size.

 In their larval stage, which can last up to two years, dragonflies are aquatic and eat just about anything—tadpoles, mosquitoes, fish, other insect larvae and even each other.  At the end of its larval stage, the dragonfly crawls out of the water, then its exoskeleton cracks open and releases the insect’s abdomen, which had been packed in like a telescope. Its four wings come out, and they dry and harden over the next several hours to days.
 

 Some adult dragonflies live for only a few weeks while others live up to a year.
 

#1 - 5th Sept. 2022

For the 1st timer trying out the 20mm lens

#3 - 12th Sept. 2022

On under exposure & camera speed