The study of dragonflies has always been a Cinderella activity lagging far behind more glamorous invertebrates such as butterflies and moths or economically important species such as mosquitoes, locusts etc. Dragonflies are carnivorous and therefore indicators at the top of their food chain. They rely upon pure water conditions and are significant markers of environmental conditions. Perhaps more important, certain species are found only in primary and virgin habitats and are therefore excellent indicators of forest quality and can be used to identify key areas of important biodiversity with strong implications for conservation. The main stumbling block to dragonfly research is as Shakespeare would have put it - an equivocation.
Dragonflies have two quite separate life stages.
The larvae live in water and are relatively easy to find. Contrarily, the adult insect is the supreme aerial acrobat and much harder to see and study. The equivocation is that the classification and identification of dragonflies is based upon adult insects and primarily on males which are often never seen once emerged from their watery nursery. The larvae which are much easier to find but are often impossible to identify. The purpose of this set of pages is to provide guidance to field workers in identifying tropical dragonfly larvae at least to the level of genus and, where possible down to species.