Dragonflies are a very ancient order of insects and fossils exist from more than 300 million years ago. Dragonflies are also relatively large insects, even now,
but in they past they were much larger.
The largest Dragonfly in the world now is actually a Damselfly (Zygoptera) Megaloprepus caerulata from Costa Rica
with a wingspan of 19.1 cm and a body length of 12 cm. Tetracanthagyna plagiata from Borneo is the largest Anisopteran or true Dragonfly.
The smallest is probably Agriocnemis nana (occuring throughout Peninsular Malaysia, Thailand, Burma and southern Vietnam) with a wingspan of just 1.8 cm. |