Q: My wife and I enjoy watching dragonflies. Does a field guide exist?

A: You both can add “odonatist” to your business cards. An odonatist is a person who is interested in dragonflies, which are members of the scientific order Odonata. Dragonfly nymphs, which live underwater, prey on mosquito larvae. Adult dragonflies eat adult mosquitoes – perhaps hundreds per day. This behavior has earned them the nickname of “mosquito hawk”. If you make a backyard water feature, make sure it has mucky areas and some tall plants, like Japanese iris or papyrus, on which the insects can rest. A good reference is “Dragonflies And Damselflies of Georgia and the Southeast” by Giff Beaton (University of Georgia Press)

See also  Raising Dragonflies

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