Andy Heine, age 7, of Springfield, I11., for his question:
HOW FAST CAN A DRAGONFLY FLY?
A dragonfly is a beautiful water insect. It has four large, fragile wings which look like they were made out of gauze. Dragonflies have been known to fly from between 50 and 60 miles an hour.
The reason dragonflies are able to fly so fast is that swiftness is one of the insect's defense powers. They can usually fly away from birds or other animals that might want to eat them. Also, they can get into the air very quickly and dodge pursuit with great speed.
Some extinct species of dragonflies had wingspreads of 2 1/2 feet. Today's dragonflies are only a few inches long.
Because of its special coloring, the wings of the insect shimmer and gleam in the sunlight when it flies. A dragonfly's slender body is colored either brown, blue or green.
Large compound eyes, which look like beads, cover most the head. The dragonfly can see motionless objects almost 6 feet away and moving objects two or three times that distance.
The insect has six legs covered with spines. It can use its legs to perch on a limb but it cannot walk. As it flies through the air, the dragonfly holds its legs together to form a basket in which to capture insects. The insect is able to grasp its prey with its legs or jaws and then it will usually eat it while flying.
The dragonfly also mates while in flight. The female often drops her eggs from the air into the water, or inside the stems of water plants.
The nymph, or young dragonfly, hatches from the eggs within five to 15 days. It has a thick body, big head and mouth, and no wings. It has a folding lower lip which is half as long as its body. The lip has jawlike hooks at the end and can move out to capture victims. The dragonfly nymph breathes by means of gills.
The dragonfly nymph stays in the water for one to five years. It eats water insects and other small animals. Some large dragonfly nymphs are able to feed on young fish.
While developing into an adult dragonfly, the nymph molts or sheds its skin about 12 times. For its final molt, the nymph leaves the water and climbs onto a reed or rock. It then sheds its skin for the last time and emerges as an adult that soon can fly.
Adult dragonflies live for only a few weeks to a few months.
Dragonflies are sometimes called devil's darning needles, mule killers, snake doctors, snake feeders and horse stingers.
The insects actually help us by feeding on harmful insects such as mosquitoes.
Small graceful damsel flies look like dragonflies, but have more slender bodies. Damsel flies have narrow, transparent wings.
Both dragonflies and damsel flies belong to the class Insecta. They make up an order called Odonata.