Dragonflies sit with their wings spread out horizontally. Because my knowledge of dragonflies and their kin might be contaminated by such fictions learned in childhood, I checked out some facts before writing this. The highly readable and informative book The Nature of Southeast Alaska has a brief discussion of dragonfly natural history, so I used it to verify my memory. A book about Southeastern's natural attributes was a likely source of information on dragonflies and their kin because, for most of their lives, they are truly aquatic insects. The watery realm of southeastern Alaska provides some wonderful habitat for these creatures.
Larval dragonflies are the water-dwelling form.
They are known as nymphs or naiads, terms that in classical mythology are associated with beautiful sprites. Not even a mother dragonfly could find these leggy, lumpy eating machines beautiful. Larval dragonflies are not pretty and they are deadly hunters. Their massive lower jaws spring forward, impaling other aquatic insect larvae or even small fish, then snap back to bring the captured prey in for devouring. These scourges of the ponds live as larvae for up to four years.