24 hours a lifetime.

Used to weigh people's souls, honoured for symbolising victory and eaten with fried onions.

Pretty diverse list for a beautiful insect. 

I've always loved dragonflies and was happy to snap one today in the garden. 

Here it is! What a cutie.

But first, a bit of info. In the Triassic period, fossils of them reveal wingspans of over 2 feet! 

Loads of mad superstitions and tales involve dragonflies too. 

In Japan, legend has it that the Emperor of Japan was once bitten by a horsefly that was later eaten by a dragonfly. 

To honor the dragonfly, he named Japan "Akitsushima," or "the Isles of the Dragonfly."

In Swedish folklore, dragonflies were called "Blindsticka" and were rumoured to have had a penchant for picking out human eyes. Ouch. The Swedes also believed that dragonflies were used by the Devil to weigh people's souls, and that if a dragonfly swarmed around someone's head weighing his or her soul, that person could expect great injury.

                

                                              Bad Kitty chan

Not always just in stories though, in Asia they can make it to the dinner table. 

In Japan and other parts of Asia and the East Indies, dragonflies are considered a delicacy.

Dragonfly Nymphs
Num num

Children of the island of Lombok are said to catch dragonflies on long polls that are smeared with a sticky substance and then fried with onions. In Bali, dragonflies are fried with coconut oil, vegetables and spices. And in Thailand, Laos and other parts of eastern Asia, dragonfly larvae are served roasted up.

Something a bit more metaphysical..

Native American tribes believed and still believe that dragonflies are the souls of the dead.

                                          My fave..