June 9, 2019
If we had lived 300 million years ago, we would be living with dragonflies with wingspans of about two and a half feet and bodies a foot and a half long. Yikes! The MN DNR website states that the reason prehistoric insects were so large was because of the high concentration of oxygen in the atmosphere. I'm just glad that dragonflies are much smaller today. In Minnesota, there are about 100 different species of dragonflies and they are amazing to watch.
Trying to catch them with the camera is not easy. They can hover in place or dart around at speeds of up to 29 inches per second. According to the Minnesota Post Bulletin website, "a dragonfly can pull nine Gs of force in a turn and accelerate up to three Gs." Cool! And the good news is that this is fast enough for them to catch mosquitoes.
Some people say that dragonflies are good luck and I wouldn't be surprised if this is true. I sure felt lucky seeing so many of them today.
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