"...the dragon-flies remain not only entirely harmless to man, but in reality are his friends and allies in waging war against flies and mosquitoes; they are especially valuable in battling mosquitoes since the nymphs, or young, of the dragon-fly, take the wrigglers in the water, and the adults, on swiftest wings, take the mosquitoes while hovering over ponds laying their eggs." ~ Dragonflies and Damselflies By Anna (Botsford) Comstock.
The Insect World: A Reading Book of Entomology, 1902
The Butterfly Vivarium; or, Insect Home, 1858
"ALL you children who live in the country, or spend summers in the country, and some of you city children who do neither, must have seen dragon-flies. You may have called them "Devil's Darning Needles," or "Mosquito-hawks," and you may have heard very absurd stories of their sewing up people's ears! The stories are entirely false, for the beautiful dragon-flies have nothing with which to "sew up" ears or anything else!
I have seen them darting about the streets of New York, Boston, and Chicago, catching the mosquitoes on the wing. I have seen them in many smaller cities and towns, and in the country and by the sea, they abound.
Why do I tell you about them if they are so common? Because, like many common things, they are very interesting when one knows all about them,— or nearly all—and the flying about in the air and catching mosquitoes for breakfast, dinner, and supper, are not nearly all of the life of a dragon-fly." ~ Primary Education, Dragonflies, 1898(Switch to plain text if print too small - upper right button at link)
Fiction, The Fiddler Crab and the Dragonfly, 1901
Little Folks in Feathers and Fur, and Others in Neither, The Little Masker, 1880
The Insect Folk, Our Pretty Dragonflies, 1903.
Good Stories for Great Holidays, The Water Drop,1914
Harper's Fourth Grade Reader, The New Life, 1888
Stories of Woods and Fields, The Dragon Fly, 1902
More later....
Printing Tips: Right click on the image of the pages at the links, or download entire book. All are free and in public domain.
Crafts:
Nature craft dragonfly
Business card dragonfly plane
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