odonate

The female T. plagiata is probably the heaviest living odonate.

The larvae grow for five to six years and is believed to be the longest recorded for any odonate.

The word dragonfly is also sometimes used to refer to all Odonata, but odonate is a more correct English name for the group as a whole.

There are more than 70 species of Odonate, about 18 species of spiders and a dozen species of Stonefly.

The longest living odonate is the Neotropical helicopter damselfly Mecistogaster linearis (Zygoptera: Pseudostigmatidae) with a body length of 135 mm.

The largest living odonate is the giant Central American helicopter damselfly Megaloprepus coerulatus (Zygoptera: Pseudostigmatidae) with a wing span of 191 mm.

The most ubiquitous prey in the tree holes they inhabit are mosquito larvae, but they will also feed on tadpoles, syrphid fly and chironomid fly larvae, and other odonate (dragonfly and damselfly) naiads.

Many common insects of the Eastern United States can be found in West Virginia; 15 species of beetles, more than 70 species of Odonate, 12 species of stonefly, and about 17 moth species.

Sometimes the Giant Hawaiian Darner Anax strenuus (Anisoptera: Aeshnidae) is claimed to be the largest living odonate with an alleged wing span of 190 mm, but this seems to be rather a myth as only 152 mm are scientifically documented.