Book Review – Dragonfly Behavior – Discovering the Dynamic Life of an Ancient Order of Insects by Georg Ruppell and Dagmar Hilfert-Ruppell – Springer 2024

20/02/2025

For those members of the British Dragonfly Society who were lucky enough to see and hear Georg and Dagmar speak at past members days will remember the incredible high speed films of dragonflies in flight and the many intricate aspects of their behaviour unseen by the naked eye. This new publication now brings this together in print covering every aspect of dragonflies’ life cycle illustrated with many unique images taken from high speed film sequences.

The first sections cover the anatomy of a dragonfly body lavishly illustrated with close up photographs. They then move on to describe flight and what makes these magnificent so great to watch and going about their daily lives.  The individual sections covering aerial acrobatics , turning flight, take off, acceleration, backwards and inverted flight are illustrated with photographs showing how the wings and body move during flight sequences. The high speed sequences show prey capture, finding and engaging with mates and seeing off rivals. Many of the photo sequences are accompanied by helpful diagrams to assist the reader to interpret the complexities of behaviour.

A section on larvae is similarly lavishly illustrated. For me the outstanding section is about predation showing the interaction between various amphibian and bird predators and their dragonfly prey. Amazing sequences of leaping frogs show how they catch dragonflies but also how the dragonfly evades the predators.

Emerence and maiden flights are then covered with some great photos of dragonfly swarms. There is a comprehensive reference section. Throughout the book the authors stress the importance of observation. It concludes with an entertaining section of anecdotes where we learn how this dynamic and pioneering couple came together and went on to produce award winning films shown on German Television.

This book contains a wealth of information about dragonflies that are not readily available in any other publication and is highly recommended to anyone with an interest in Dragonfly behaviour.

Review written by Steve Cham