Larvae take one to three years to grow into adults, which can live for eight months, the main reason for which is freezing. Dragonflies are carnivorous insects. Prey on flies, mosquitoes, leafhoppers, gadfly midges and small butterfly moths and many other agricultural, forestry and animal husbandry pests. Dragonflies are an important class of natural enemy insects beneficial to humans. They can be used to monitor environmental pollution and have medicinal, edible and ornamental values. "Dragonflies lay their eggs in water, which is a biological characteristic of dragonflies.

Dragonflies generally live in wetter areas, such as where there are more dams or ditches. This is because they need water for breeding and feeding. Dragonflies prefer to fly over water where there are plenty of insects to feed on. They can fly around ponds or rivers or over open areas. The development of dragonflies is quite complex, with several molts required to hatch from egg to adult. The larvae can feed on tsetse or other small animals in the water, and sometimes their own kind feeds on each other. Both adults and larvae are carnivorous, eating pests. Adults can prey on mosquitoes and flies, and some can also prey on butterflies, moths, bees and other pests, which are beneficial insects.