Baffled by the flight of the dragonfly - Country diary archive, 25 June 1918

25 June 1918 Without apparent effort they dash with incredible speed to one side or the other, or even backwards or forwards

Slim-bodied, brilliantly blue dragonflies dart above the waterside vegetation, then suddenly stop themselves and cling to an upright stem, wings extended wide, long legs clasping with angled "elbows." They do not dash themselves against the plant they aim for. Poised in the air as if suspended are the buzzing hover-flies, their wings moving so rapidly that we only see a blur. Without apparent effort they dash with incredible speed to one side or the other, or even backwards or forwards; we see a line flash across our field of vision, and there the insect is, hovering again five yards away, or maybe back in the same spot from which it suddenly vanished.

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