Entomology (Study of Bugs)/Dragonfly question


Hi, my son is doing a project on dragonflies and he is required to ask a question from an expert. He wants to know why dragonflies have 4 wings?  Also he was wondering about how many total dragonflies there are in the USA.

Thanks, any help is greatly appreciated.


There are about 325 species of dragonflies in North America north of Mexico.  This number does *not* include damselflies, the smaller versions of dragonflies. There are about 135 species of damselflies.

Not sure how to answer the question of why they have four wings.  Most flying insects have two pairs of wings.  It probably gives them better maneuverability to chase prey and avoid predators.  There have been many interesting scientific studies on how dragonflies fly.  You may want to consult "Google Scholar" for those references, and read the abstracts.

Please give your son my best wishes for a successful project.  He has chosen a very interesting subject!



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Eric R. Eaton







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