What animals do adult dragonflies and damselflies eat?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

Adult dragonflies and damselflies are voracious, indiscriminate aerial predators that feed primarily on small insects. Their diet typically includes flying insects such as mosquitoes and flies.123

While most species are generalist feeders, there is one notable exception: members of the damselfly family Pseudostigmatidae are specialists that hunt by plucking spiders from their webs. Because of their speed and agility, some dragonflies are capable of consuming prey that weighs up to 60 percent of their own body weight.23