How do dragonflies hover?

Factual Questions
1

Granted, I’ve never made an extensive study of dragonfly wing structures, but I just don’t get how they can hover with what they have.

A hush fell over the courtroom, killing six.

2

I know that they can rotate their wings to allow for forward and backward flight. If they were to adjust their wings just right, in a position midway between forward and backward flight, they would hover. Just a WAG.

3

I’m not sure which part you’re wondering about, the Dragonfly-wings-part or the hovering-being-difficult part. Lots of insects can hover - bees, some flies, etc.

Like other flying insects, the dragonfly flies by vibrating its body many times a second. This creates tons of turbulence below it, which creates enough lift to push the little critter into the air.

I think it will achieve forward motion if its body is angled a certain way - i.e., head pretty low, abdomen pretty high. Hovering should be achieved simply by lowering the rear or raising the head. That’s a guess though; they may achieve or eliminate forward motion through changing the angle of their wing-beats, or something.

4
      • Useless fact #1,258,933: - A dragonfly’s wings generate six times as much lift (per unit of area) that an F-16 fighter jet can. Granted, a dragonfly can’t break the sound barrier -but it’s still impressive. - MC
5

Many flying creatures hover by moving their wings in a semicircular motion in order to create a vortex of air underneath the wing. It is this vortex which provides the lift necessary to keep the critter both aloft and stationary. In some ways, it is similar to “ground effect” in that an overpressure is created beneath the flier to keep it aloft rather than creating an underpressure above, as an airplane wing does.

6
      • I think that dragonflies and damselflies are the only two types of insects that fly by creating true lift. All the others do it by pushing air beneath them, which is why all the rest have to flap their wings all the time. Dragonflies and damsel flies can casually glide 15-20 yards if they want to, without losing more than a few feet of altitude; other bugs cannot do this. - MC