The most effective Hunters in the World

The African lions and white sharks was not the number one predator in the world. The research team of scientists at Rutgers University in the United States showed that the dragonfly is the most brutal and effective hunters in the animal kingdom.

The African Lion is only able to capture 25 percent of the total catch their prey. White shark has 300 cutters teeth successfully capture half of the total prey they hunt. The success rate of dragonflies hunts apparently 95 percent.

"Dragonflies will tear its prey's body and continued to chew up into clumps and swallow it," said Michael L. May, entomology professor emeritus at Rutgers, as quoted by New York Times, on Tuesday, March 2, 2013.

Dragonfly appetite practically endless. Stacey Combes, who studies the biomechanics of dragonfly flight at Harvard University, once watched a laboratory dragonfly eat 30 flies in a row. "It would have happily kept eating," she said, "if there had been more food available."

The Dragonfly BodyParts. (Picture from: http://r4r.ca/)

A number of studies published recently reveals key features of dragonfly such as the brain, eyes, and wings that allow the insect hunts without hesitation. One study shows dragonflies nervous system displays almost the same capacity as human, especially for selective attention. That is, the dragonflies are able to focus on a single prey being targeted, although prey were flying in a group.

Other researchers identify the presence of such a center containing 16 circuits of nerve cells that connect the brain to the center dragonfly flight motor in the chest. This nervous system set allows the dragonfly can track a moving target, calculate the trajectory to intercept the target, and adjust the flight path (see video bellow).

Dragonflies are magnificent aerialists, able to hover, dive, fly backward and upside down, pivot 360 degrees with three tiny wing beats, and reach speeds of 30 miles per hour, lightning for an arthropod. In many insects, the wings are simple extensions of the thoracic box and are moved largely as a unit, by flexing the entire thorax. In the dragonfly, the four transparent, ultraflexible wings are attached to the thorax by separate muscles and can each be maneuvered independently, lending the insect an extraordinary range of flight options. "A dragonfly can be missing an entire wing and still capture prey," Dr. Combes said.

Robert M. Olberg of Union College, the research reported in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found evidence that dragonfly's path to intercept its prey like a sailors trick. With its plural eyes, the dragonfly can predict the direction of their prey, including the angle and speed, and estimating itself to fly to catch the prey. *** [ EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | NY TIMES | MAHARDIKA SATRIA HADI | KORAN TEMPO 4189]

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