I had no idea the little colored bit on their wings acts as a counterweight 😍 It keeps the wingtips from fluttering and lets the dragonfly fly 10-20% faster than they’d be able to otherwise.
They also have direct flight muscles that allow them to control all four wings individually so they can fly all directions and maneuver super fast. They have different patterns and rhythms of movement for different flight patterns, which reminds me of how land animals have different paces that you can see in their track patterns.
Apparently there are two main types of aerial hunting techniques: tracking and intercepting. Interception is when the predator predicts where the prey will travel and flies there instead of merely chasing, which relies on greater speed and uses more energy.
