Coping with the heat, or not?

Insects need heat to be active, some more than others. But they can also overheat. One way that dragonflies (odes) may cope with excessive heat is to obelisk. What?! If you know that the Washington Monument is an obelisk, then you may be able to understand why this behavior (above) is called obelisking. The dragonfly sticks its abdomen straight up into the air. Why does it do this? Well, the thought is that the dragonfly points its abdomen at theRead more