Dragonflies and damselflies (Odonata) belong to the group of insects of the Phylum Arthropoda. There are 168 species in South Africa and of these 117 can be found in KwaZulu-Natal. Dragonflies are appropriately named because they have large eyes. The word dragon is derived from a Greek word meaning ‘to see clearly’. Fossil records show that during Carboniferous times, dragonflies had a wingspan of up to 75 centimetres