Dragonfly

I like bugs.

Some scientists estimate that there are over 200 million insects for every human on the planet. That’s a lot of bugs. Bugs eat through debris and make it useful again for some other purpose at some other time. They pollinate, aerate and migrate. They jump, spin, fly and weave. The mayfly lives only for a day while a queen termite thrives for up to 50 years. Some people eat bugs while others use them in science, textiles and medicine. I like bugs, so forgiving, so useful, so very, very many of them.

This is a dragonfly that comes to the pond. Woodhaven has many dragonflies. There are huge ones that congregate up on the dry hillside, much larger than the ones I see near the water. In some places (not here) there are fossils of dragonflies that have a twenty four inch wingspan. That’s two feet. That’s a really big bug. Dragonflies are aerial masters. They can reach speeds of 60 miles per hour, can hover, fly backward and sideways all the while generating enough heat to burn fifty times more energy in flight than they do in a resting state. Their eyes have nearly 30,000 facets which make it easy to locate prey.

I love to watch them hover above the water, it causes a ripple that reaches to the far side of the pond and gently dissipates until the next flyover. Iridescent blue tones tucked smooth against the rich chocolate brown-black remind me of nothing else in nature I’ve seen so far with the exception of the odd tropical fish or two.

• Friendly reminder- all photos on this blog are copyright ~ Lori Mairs