Today their size and beauty make them especially valuable subjects for research on insect behaviour and ecology and for art. As their larvae are aquatic, dragonflies can be used in making rapid assessments of water quality. In addition, because they are predators they have considerable potential for the biological control of mosquitoes which transmit diseases to human beings . Over 5,000 species of dragonfly have been described and many more await discovery or description.
Most species live in the tropics, mainly in rainforest.
Our knowledge of them is very patchy. The rapid destruction of rainforest makes the conservation of dragonflies a very urgent matter. This Dragonfly Action Plan faces these problems and outlines the necessary solutions. Conserve habitats outside protected areas by modifying agricultural, forestry and industrial procedures. Therefore, by far the most important recommendation of this Action Plan is that Governments, statutory conservation bodies and non-governmental organisations which manage nature reserves should establish or complete networks of protected areas to cover all the main habitat types found in each country.