What Are Dragonflies? A Beginner's Guide to Dragonflies and Damselflies

Dragonflies are flying insects in the order Odonata, and the name "dragonfly" strictly covers the suborder Anisoptera, while the slimmer, weaker-flying damselflies make up Zygoptera. You can tell them apart at a glance by build, wing position at rest, and eyes: dragonflies are stout with eyes that meet on top of the head and hold their wings open; damselflies are slender with separated eyes and usually fold their wings along the body. Both begin life as aquatic nymphs, which makes them useful signals of freshwater habitat quality.

Dragonfly or damselfly? The quick checks

These rules cover most species, but a few damselflies hold their wings partly open, so combine the checks rather than relying on one.

The life cycle: from water to air

Dragonflies lay eggs in or near water, sometimes inside plant tissue. The eggs hatch into nymphs that live underwater, hunting other invertebrates and, in larger species, small tadpoles or fish fry. Nymphs molt several times over months or years, then climb out of the water onto a stem or rock, split their skin, and emerge as adults.

That long aquatic stage is why Odonata are watched as indicators of freshwater quality: a varied, pollution-sensitive community suggests a healthy water body, while a poor one points to degraded habitat. For a beginner, the practical takeaway is that the adults you see are only half the story—the water body nearby is where the population actually lives.

Where and when to watch dragonflies

• Habitats: ponds, lakes, slow rivers, canals, bogs, and marshy edges. Different species favor still or flowing water, shaded or open banks, and floating or emergent vegetation.
• Season: late spring to early autumn in Europe, with peak diversity in midsummer; warmer Australian regions can show activity across a longer window.
• Time of day: warm, sunny, still mornings and early afternoons are best. Many species bask on exposed perches to warm up, then patrol territories.
• Weather: avoid windy or overcast days; flight activity drops sharply.

Watch from the bank rather than wading into soft margins, and keep a respectful distance—chasing a perched dragonfly usually just moves it on.

Basic identification tips

Start with size and jizz (overall impression), then work down:

1. Group first: decide dragonfly or damselfly using the table above.
2. Perch and posture: where and how it sits narrows the family—hawkers patrol mid-air, darters return to the same stem tip, damselflies sit low in vegetation.
3. Wing markings and color: spots, bands, and the color of the abdomen and thorax are key, but note that colors shift with age and temperature.
4. Eyes and thorax pattern: useful for separating similar species, especially in the blue and red damselflies.
5. Location and date: a species list for your region and season is often the fastest filter.

In Europe, common groups include the blue and red damselflies, the large hawkers, and the broad-bodied chasers and darters. In Australia, look for the brightly colored dragonflies of warm ponds and streams and the many slender damselflies along vegetated edges.

Using photographs and records to confirm an ID

Photo archives and species records are the most reliable way to check a tentative identification. A good example is DragonflyPix.com, which publishes photographs of European and Australian dragonflies and damselflies and sells prints. Its species pages show thumbnails that open into a larger image with a line of capture data underneath—for example, a photo ID, date and time, country, aperture, shutter speed, focal length, ISO, camera model, and crop and flash notes. That metadata is genuinely useful for identification: it tells you when and where a species was recorded and lets you compare your own sighting against a dated, georeferenced example.

The site offers small versions of its photographs (1200 x 800 pixels) for download, but its terms ask that you do not redistribute, modify, or republish them, or the site's text, without prior written permission. Treat such archives as reference material and keep your own photos for your records.

A simple beginner's routine

1. Pick a local pond or slow river and visit on a warm, sunny, calm morning.
2. Note the date, weather, and habitat type.
3. Watch for ten minutes without moving, and record where each insect perches and how it flies.
4. Photograph what you can, then compare against a regional species list and a photo archive.
5. Log your sightings with location and date—over a season, your own records become the best identification aid you have.