Skimmers (NPS National Capital Region Odonata)

Skimmers

Libellulidae

Summary ³

The skimmers or perchers and their relatives form the Libellulidae, the largest dragonfly family in the world. It is sometimes considered to contain the Corduliidae as the subfamily Corduliinae and the Macromiidae as the subfamily Macromiinae. Even if these are excluded (as Silsby does), there still remains a family of over 1000 species. With nearly worldwide distribution, these are almost certainly the most often seen of all dragonflies.

Functional adaptation ⁴

Microstructure offers efficient flight: dragonfly

Wings of dragonflies offer highly efficient flight and lightweight characteristics due to a series of adaptive materials that form a very complex composite structure.

Move or stay put > Move > In gases

"[D]ragonfly wings are made of a series of adaptive materials, which form a very complex composite structure. This bio-composite fabrication has some unique features and potential benefits." (Rajabi et al. 2011:165)

"[F]light performance of dragonflies is one of the examples of nature’s efficiency. Dragonflies can fly forwards, backwards and sideways. They can also hover in midair and then instantly reverse the direction of their flight or rapidly accelerate. They are extremely fast and agile. Some of the dragonflies can fly at speeds up to 50 kilometers per hour." (Rajabi et al. 2011:166)

"All mentioned characteristics in this paper indicate a highly efficient and reliable wing system with unique features for twisting, flexibility, improved speed and lift balance, as well as lightweight and small size. In fact, the wing has been adapted to yield the highest possible loads during flight...Our numerical results showed that the fundamental natural frequency of dragonfly wings is about 168 Hz. Bending is the dominant deformation mode in this frequency." (Rajabi et al. 2011:171)
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