An old country name for
dragonflies was "horse stingers". It was an inaccurate name -- dragonflies never
attack any
creature which they cannot catch in flight.
One of the largest insects in
Britain today, the dragonfly starts its
life in
water where it hatches from an
egg, generally laid on a water
plant. When it reaches
maturity it is a fierce
hunter and eats any tiny animal or
insect that it can catch. It catches its prey as it flies.
Curiously, although dragonflies have four
wings, each wing can be used independently of the others.