To learn more about research on migrating dragonflies, go to www.princeton.edu/~wikelski/Migration.htm (Princeton University) and www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5618498 (NPR).

You can see a movie about dragonflies at www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/animals/dragonfly.jsp (National Science Foundation).

Information about the ICARUS mission, whose goal is to install a system that allows researchers around the world to track small animals over the next decades, is available at www.icarusinitiative.org/ (International Cooperation for Animal Research Using Space).

You can learn more about Hine's emerald dragonfly at www.fws.gov/midwest/Endangered/insects/hins_fct.html (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service).

A beginner's guide to dragonflies is available at powell.colgate.edu/wda/Beginners_Guide.htm (Colgate University).

For a photo gallery of dragonflies, go to stephenville.tamu.edu/~fmitchel/dragonfly/family.htm (Texas A&M University).

Milius, Susan. 2006. Crouching scientist, hidden dragonfly. Science News 170(Aug. 12):104-105. Available at http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20060812/bob8.asp .

Sohn, Emily. 2005. Saving wetlands. Science News for Kids (April 6). Available at http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20050406/Feature1.asp .

Books recommended by SearchIt!Science:

Dragonflies — Molly McLaughlin Published by Walker & Co., 1989. A dragonfly flies through a swarm of mosquitoes with its mouth open. It catches so many of them that it must swallow some before it can close its mouth. Clear, easy-to-understand text describes the life cycle of the dragonfly. Dramatic color photographs show some of the 5,700 types of dragonflies, their body parts, their hunting and eating habits, their metamorphoses, and their habitats.

A Dazzle of Dragonflies — Forrest Mitchell and James Lasswell Published by Texas A&M University Press, 2005. From fossils and folklore to life cycles and the latest in digital imaging techniques, this book takes you into the far-reaching and sometimes secret world of one of our most beneficial insects. Your guides are two of the most experienced and ardent fans of this insect, which is sometimes called the "mosquito hawk," and your journey includes encounters with poets and prehistoric giants; peeks into hidden, watery universes; side trips to garden ponds and scientific laboratories; and much more. Pioneers in the electronic imaging of insects and creators of the award-winning Web site "Digital Dragonflies," the authors share their spectacular scans of live dragonflies, enhanced with beautiful photographs that showcase the insects in their natural environment.

A Dragon in the Sky: The Story of a Green Darner Dragonfly — Laurence Pringle Published by Orchard Books/Scholastic, 2001. In a tiny swamp in western New York, a female dragonfly goes from leaf to leaf, laying hundreds of eggs. One of them, Anax, grows up to soar in the sky and migrate south when the weather begins to turn cold. As Anax grows, he molts and becomes a full-grown nymph, narrowly avoiding predators in the swamp. Soon, he emerges as a dragonfly, ready to let the wind carry him southeast. He arrives at the New Jersey shore, then heads south to Florida. In the Florida swamp, Anax mates, his long journey at an end. The margins of this beautifully illustrated story are filled with scientific facts and literary musings on dragonflies. A note at the end gives instructions on how to care for dragonfly nymphs.

dragonfly An insect with a slender body and two pairs of wings that have many veins. Dragonflies hold their wings out to the side when not in flight.