MaLisa Spring, CFAES alum (MS, entomology, 2017) and coordinator of the Ohio State-based Ohio Dragonfly Survey, was quoted today in a story on the CNN website about how recent swarms of migrating dragonflies are so huge they’re appearing on radar.
Good to have around
Dragonflies are beneficial insects—they prey on other, smaller insects such as mosquitoes—and are indicators of the health of ecosystems, especially wetlands and other water bodies. In Ohio, more than a dozen dragonfly species, including the evocatively named American emerald and elfin skimmer, are threatened or endangered.
A fun fact courtesy of “Simple rules guide dragonfly migration” from the journal Biology Letters: “The migratory patterns and apparent decision rules of green darners (pictured) are strikingly similar to those proposed for songbirds, and may represent a general migration strategy for long-distance migration of organisms with high self-propelled flight speeds.” (Photo: Getty Images.)