Translations:Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book/Nature/Odonates/1/en

1. What are Odonates?

Odonates are an order of insects that is divided into 3 groups or suborders: Dragonflies and Damselflies and a third minor suborder. Enthusiasts generally refer to them as “Odes”. Dragonflies are important predators that eat mosquitoes, and other small insects like flies, bees, ants, wasps, and very rarely butterflies. They are usually found around marshes, lakes, ponds, streams, and wetlands because their larvae, known as "nymphs", are aquatic. Though dragonflies are predators, they themselves are subject to predation by birds, lizards, frogs, spiders, fish, water bugs, and even other large dragonflies. Therefore these insects are an important part of the food chain.