Garden Plot: Dragonflies bring beauty and benefits to local gardens

This dragonfly, called a darner, is characterized by wings that are perpendicular to the body. The stream in my garden, shown here in winter, has a catch basin at the bottom where the dragonflies hang out in summer. (Diane Lynch / For The Ark)

Are you lucky enough to have dragonflies in your garden, or maybe have you seen them near fresh water such as the marsh behind the Belvedere-Tiburon Library? They are stunningly beautiful. I have a seasonal stream that seems to trickle all summer these days, so they’re around my garden, sometimes flying close to observe what I’m up to out there. There are some large dragonflies that are bright red, smaller ones that are a brilliant blue and some that are grayish. All are so much fun to watch.

Like bees and other insects, dragonflies have what appear to be huge eyes, which are actually compound eyes consisting of thousands of simple eyes. Fortunately, they’re harmless to us and don’t sting. Damselflies are the smaller ones; they have wings that fold into the shape of a V or over their backs when they are resting. Larger ones, called darners, have wings at right angles to their sides, and some can approach the size of a hummingbird.

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