What do dragonflies eat?

Adult dragonflies feed on almost any live insect. While midges and mosquitoes make up a large portion of the dragonfly's diet, they also favor bees, beetles, butterflies, flies, moths and numerous other flying insects and consume 15 percent or more of their body weight in a single day.

Well-equipped with the ability to turn on a dime, accelerate instantly, hover in the same spot and even fly backwards, most dragonflies catch their prey in-flight, plucking them right out of the air. Dragonflies may also scoop up prey with their legs or simply hover over vegetation and snatch insects from plant leaves and stems.