Welcome to Planet Dragonfly

The main author of this book, Jill Sillsby, is the honorary secretary of the Worldwide Dragonfly Association and a former ditto of the British Dragonfly Society. As behoves such a prominent student of dragonflies, her book is interesting, readable and illustrated with a large amount of stunning colour photos. Indeed, this is one of the best books on dragonflies I've seen.

"Dragonflies of the world" covers all odonates: true dragonflies, damselflies and anisozygopterans. The book is divided into two main sections. The first deals with the life cycle and behaviour of these fascinating insects. The second is an encyclopaedic section, covering all extant families of the order Odonata. Apart from the usual Hawkers, Emperors and Chasers, there are some groups I haven't heard of previously. The Primitives are dragonflies with curiously shaped wings, Dwarves are the smallest dragonflies (one species is only 15 mm), and the largest ones are called Forest Giants (strictly, they are damselflies). Finally, there are the anisozygopterans, which I personally think looks like a cross between dragonflies and wasps!

The two main sections are followed by three shorter chapters on evolutionary riddles, dragonfly breeding and conservation issues.

All things considered, "Dragonflies of the world" might be the only book about dragonflies you are likely to need.

Welcome to Planet Dragonfly!

An excellent introduction

Steve Brooks' book "Dragonflies" is an excellent introduction to the Odonata or odonates, a group of insects comprising dragonflies, damselflies and anisozygopterans. The book looks like a shorter version of Jill Sillsby's "Dragonflies of the world", and seems to be partially based on that book.

Brooks covers all aspects of dragonfly and damselfly behaviour: feeding, mating, flying, the larval stages. There is a chapter on odonates and humans. There is also a section mentioning every known family of the Odonata. The book is superbly illustrated with glowing photos, all in colour. (It should be noted that the anisozygopterans are mentioned mostly in passing. But then, there are only two species of those!)

"Dragonflies" is definitely worth buying if you have even a passing interest in these large, sturdy and completely harmless bugs...