Dragonflies are predators that eat other smaller insects like flies, bees, and butterflies. They look similar to damselflies, but several physical characters distinguish them.
Both dragonflies and damselflies belong to the order Odonata, which is considered one of the oldest group of insects. Fossils of primitive dragonflies as old as 300 million years have been found. Today about 5,000 species of dragonflies exist worldwide.
