In the summer evenings, the breeze blows slowly, and, once in a while, we can always see dragonflies by the small pond. The dragonfly flies low on the surface of the water, and its tail briefly touches the water before quickly flying up.


The surface of the water ripples, which is what we call the "dragonfly pointing water" phenomenon. So, why do dragonflies point to water? In fact, the female dragonfly is laying eggs. Dragonflies point to water to lay eggs, which is different from other insects; their eggs are hatched in the water, and the larvae also live in the water.


Female dragonflies lay eggs in the water, mostly by flying with the tail touching the surface of the water, and the eggs are discharged. The eggs arrive in the water attached to water plants. In order to reproduce, dragonflies must choose to lay their eggs in this way; that is, the female dragonflies discharge their eggs into the water by pointing their tails at the water.


Moreover, only a few dragonflies lay their eggs in a slapdash manner; that is, they fly low over the pool and click the end of their tails on the water to lay their eggs. However, most female dragonflies do not lay eggs as quickly; as the females patrol the air, they find the right spot, and then slowly lay their eggs by perching on an attachment in the water.


Approximately 300 million years ago, the first winged insects began to appear, including dragonflies, which were the first animals to learn to fly in the true sense of the word. This was more than 70 million years before pterosaurs, the first vertebrates to fly, and 150 million years before birds, which evolved from dinosaurs later.


Dragonflies had more time to optimize their flying abilities, so it is not surprising that they became the kings of the flying world. Nowadays, dragonflies generally have a wingspan of 5-12 cm, but fossils have revealed that dragonflies in ancient times could have a wingspan of over 70 cm, likely due to the high oxygen content of the atmosphere at that time.


Dragonflies had two sets of wings, and their muscles allowed each pair to work independently, allowing them to change the angle of each wing at will and perform some remarkable feats of flight.


They are so agile that they can fly forward and backward at will they can fly in any direction, even upside down, stop and spin 180 degrees at high speed and of course hover in one spot for a minute or more, just like a helicopter.


Not only are they agile, but their flight speed can only be described as unique, with their average cruising speed reaching 100 times their body length per second.


Some large dragonflies can reach a maximum speed of more than 100 km/h. In many high-speed roads, this is already the speeding speed of a car, while small dragonflies can also reach 36-54 km/h, the fastest flying player in the insect world.


In addition, their flight endurance is also surprising. The yellow dragonfly, a widely distributed species considered a global migrant, has been observed to fly across the Indian Ocean, travelling up to 17,700 km per year, making it the farthest migrating insect known. Such flying ability makes them natural predators.