Dragonflies and damselflies are among the most ancient flying insects, sensitive indicators of freshwater ecosystem health, and increasingly the subject of welfare consideration as our understanding of invertebrate sentience expands.
Dragonfly welfare occupies the frontier of invertebrate ethics. While their capacity for suffering remains uncertain and the evidence base is far thinner than for vertebrates or crustaceans, they possess nociceptors, nervous systems capable of complex behavior, and show avoidance responses to injury. The primary welfare consideration for wild odonates is population-level: freshwater pollution, wetland loss, and pesticide contamination are eliminating the habitat that makes their complex aquatic larval development possible. Dragonflies spend the vast majority of their lives as underwater larvae — welfare improvements for this life stage require clean, well-oxygenated freshwater with abundant prey. As environmental indicators, dragonfly and damselfly populations serve as sensitive signals of ecosystem health that benefits the welfare of countless other species.