The body plan of the dragonfly is among the most successful of any animal on the planet, having survived for hundreds of millions of years with relatively little change. Along with grasshoppers, cockroaches and crickets, dragonflies have been on the planet since long before the dinosaurs. Fossil evidence tells us that some of the ancestors of this creature were the size of crows, measuring two feet from wing tip to wing tip.

This image comes to us courtesy of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, part of the Texas A&M University System. There you can find more pictures and a link to the Digital Dragonfly Museum.