Ancient, agile, iridescent, and predatory. But they mostly eat mosquitoes. What’s not to like?
To map the history of dragonflies and damselflies—Earth’s oldest flying insects—the National Science Foundation granted $2.3 million to a team led by BYU life-sciences professors Seth M. Bybee (BS ’04) and Jamie Lee Jensen (BS ’00, MS ’04).
Building an extensive tree of life out of DNA data, the researchers will document the evolution of their vision, flight form, and colorful exoskeletons—plus highlight the insects’ vital role as a global bioindicator of healthy freshwater systems.
