Malaysian Dragonflies Gallery

Wonders of the God-created Dragonflies

This Malaysian dragonflies gallery endeavors to show the wonder and beauty in the creation of the dragonflies -- the various colors, patterns, shapes and sizes of their bodies and wings, and general make-up.

It contains only some of the many species found in the country.

As mentioned in the dragonflies of Malaysia page, dragonflies are insects that belong to the order of Odonata (also known as odonates). Odonates are further divided into two sub-orders, namely, Anisoptera (true dragonflies) and Zygoptera (damselflies).

Get the best field guides and books on the dragonflies of Malaysia here.

Body Structure of Dragonflies

The body of the dragonfly comprises three main divisions, namely, the head, thorax and abdomen.

The thorax is further divided into two, the anterior prothorax and the synthorax.

The abdomen itself is divided into ten segments where sexual differences between males and females are exhibited, like genitalia and anal appendages.

These details of the thoracic markings, abdominal patterns and anal appendages of the dragonflies become important especially when experts try to distinguish or separate between very close species.

A dragonfly has three pairs of legs (like all insects) and two pairs of wings.

One pair of the legs is located in front at the anterior prothorax, with the other two pairs behind at the synthorax, which also bears the two pairs of wings on top.

And did you know that the wings work wonderfully in a very co-ordinated way for the dragonfly?

Well, when the two front wings rise, the two wings at the rear will descend. This is accomplished by the movements of two opposite groups of muscles, moving in opposite direction of up and down.

This flawless flying capability of dragonflies, like making sudden accelerated changes in direction, or hanging or hovering itself in mid-air, is an amazing wonder of its physical creation.

How can we know whether the dragonfly is male or female?

Well, mostly the females of dragonflies are harder to identify than males.

In casual observation or when looking from afar, the general rule we can use is that female dragonflies usually have shorter abdomen, and they are usually slightly larger and stouter than males. They also usually have duller colors of the two.

In the world of nature and wildlife, the male is usually the prettier, more colorful and attractive, and the more handsome of the sexes.

It's mostly true of birds, for instance, and let's just take and compare the peacock and the peahen... oh,oh, I'm digressing, don't want to start a war of the sexes now.

So, let's just take a look at the Malaysian dragonflies gallery below.