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Gardening in Oz

Dragon Flies What is their purpose?

20 years ago

My garden has many dragon flies flittig about at the moment.

What is their purpose?

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Comments (12)

User
20 years ago
Well, apart from looking absolutely stunning (is it obvious that I like them?) they feed on other insects (best of all, mosquitoes) and are of course food for larger creatures such as birds and lizards. Everything in nature has a purpose and is part of 'the big picture'.

Cheers,
Dee.
Sparaxis
20 years ago
I was greatly amused by a woman who called in on a radio gardening program recently. She claimed to have fruit fly but it was determined that she actually had tiny manure flies grazing on the waste material on her compost.
When she found out that they were neither pest nor helpful in her garden, she indignantly asked "Well what are they there for?"
I agree with Dee - everything is part of the bigger picture. We share I lives with billions of other life forms, most of which we are not even aware of. They all have a right to exist on this planet. Humans are no more deserving than any other creature, most of which have far less destructive potential.
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trancegemini_wa
20 years ago
Dragonflies are beautiful arent they? I get them in my garden too and love watching them flit about. genny as dee mentioned they eat bugs particularly mosquitoes so they are definitely good to have around. when I am in the pool they come right up to me and hover and check me out. they arent dangerous or threatening, but they are very curious. they are attracted to water particularly when they are breeding so if you have a pond or pool theyll be hanging around looking for a mate or to deposit their eggs.

TG
Robert_NSW
20 years ago
What purpose to humans serve?
Sparaxis
20 years ago
Ah Robert! I was going to make a similar comment myself. If we were put here to look after everything else on the planet, then we are failing miserable. I think it would be a terribly arrogant persepective on life to consider ourselves better than any other species, particularly one so beautiful as the Dragon Fly.
paradisi
20 years ago
what are dragon flies for?

to look good

to eat pests

to let you know you're doing some things right in your garden
User
20 years ago
"What purpose do humans serve?"

Well, to be gardeners of course!! LOL.

Cheers,
Dee.
corymbosa
20 years ago
The same as everything else in the garden. They act as a vectors to maintain and increase the presence of the genetic material they carry within the population's gene pool. Attractiveness and pest management are just ruses they use to make us feel guilty about killing them.

Personally, I find dragonflies a pleasant distraction from those pesky butterflies and their destructive offspring. Be happy they're there.
Jennie60
20 years ago
Does anyone remember the lovely animated movie "The Rescuers"? Probably late 60s, in which one of the main characters was a dragonfly named Evinrude (great name). We've got a great outdoor table ornament in the shape of a dragonfly - it's not hard to guess what we call it.

This is apropos of absolutely nothing, actually !
cattuss
20 years ago
I once rescued a dragonfly from a disused spiders web. I couldn't stand seeing it die for no reason (the spider had long gone probably eaten by something bigger). It was a very delicate operation to remove the web from its wings but once I did that it started to help by pulling it off the rest of its body like it knew what i was doing. Then it flew off into a tree hopefully to eat some mozzies
ashmeri
20 years ago
Wonderful, beautiful little creatures especially if you are sitting watching them with a granddaughter who is into fairies

Marion
User
20 years ago
We seem to have a few of them on our block some are as big as mini helicopters, others are just nice sizes and some are beautiful colours I have tried on many occasions to take photos of them but they must know I have a camera hanging around neck because as soon as they see me they are off though I did take a few of a blue one not long ago I will look it up and put it on the Gallery..

They are such a beautiful insect and I like that droning noise they make also I much prefer them to those hundreds of caterpillars I spend hours squashing every morning...Why do we have to have them just because they turn into pretty butterflies that is one insect I don't want in my garden, even the resident birds wont touch them. I tried feeding them to our chooks and they wont touch them dead or alive not that I can blame them..... Cheers..MM.

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