Whats the biggest/smallest dragonfly?
The biggest wingspan of a living dragonfly is the Central American Megaloprepus coerulatus with a wingspan about 19 cm. This is a thin, long-abdomened damselfly. The bulkiest dragonfly may be Petalura ingentissima from Australia (female wingspan to about 16 cm), a central African Anax species or a reported, but apparently uncollected, aeshnid from Borneo. Perhaps the smallest Dragonfly is Nannophya pygmaea from east Asia including Malaysia and Japan. This species is only 15 mm long with a wing span of about 20 mm. In prehistoric times dragonflies were much larger, the largest flying insects ever. The largest member of the extinct Protodonata was the Permian Meganeuropsis permiana with a reconstructed wingspan (based on fragments, scaled to complete fossils of similar animals) of about 70-75 cm.
In the UK dragonflies reach a length of about 85 mm and a wingspan of about 120 mm. This is the size for the larger “Hawker” dragonflies such as the Emperor and Brown Hawker. Damselflies, which are the much smaller and weaker flying relatives of dragonflies, are much smaller. The largest in the UK are the Demoiselles. These have a body length of about 50 mm and a wingspan of about 60 mm. The biggest wingspan of a living dragonfly is the Central American Megaloprepus coerulatus with a wingspan about 19 cm. This is a thin, long-abdomened damselfly. The bulkiest dragonfly may be Petalura ingentissima from Australia (female wingspan to about 16 cm), a central African Anax species or a reported, but apparently uncollected, aeshnid from Borneo. Perhaps the smallest Dragonfly is Nannophya pygmaea from east Asia including Malaysia and Japan. This species is only 15 mm long with a wing span of about 20 mm. In prehistoric times dragonflies were much larger, the largest flying insects ever. The l
