Dragonfly Labeling – Parts Worksheet With an Answer Key

All 13 parts on the diagram

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The dragonfly 9

Head Large, and nearly covered by the two compound eyes.
Compound eyes Huge eyes that cover most of the head.
Antennae Very short and bristle-like, easy to miss.
Thorax The middle section. It carries the four wings and six legs.
Abdomen Long and slender, in ten segments.
Forewings The front pair of wings. All four are clear and netted.
Hindwings The rear pair, broader at the base than the forewings.
Legs Spiny legs, held like a basket to catch insects in flight.
Claspers Grasping appendages at the tip of a male's abdomen.

Wing and nymph 4

Wing veins Each wing has a dense net of veins and crossveins.
Nodus A joint-like notch in the middle of the wing's front edge.
Pterostigma A thickened cell on the front edge, near the wing tip.
Labium (mask) The nymph's lower lip. It shoots out to catch prey.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-09-30, a name kept only where two of these use it: (1) North Carolina State University, ENT 425 General Entomology, Odonata, https://genent.cals.ncsu.edu/insect-identification/order-odonata/ (large compound eyes, short bristle-like antennae, four membranous wings rich in veins and crossveins, the hind wing broader at the base, the stigma on the leading edge, the long slender abdomen, the male's claspers, legs used as a basket, the nymph's labium); (2) Wikipedia, Dragonfly, Odonata, Insect wing and Pterostigma, text only, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragonfly and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odonata (head, thorax and abdomen; the large head with very short antennae; compound eyes covering most of the head; the pterostigma near the wing tip; the node on the leading edge; the abdomen of 10 segments with claspers; rows of spines on the legs; the labial mask of the nymph); (3) J. H. Comstock, A Manual for the Study of Insects, chapter VI, https://archive.org/details/rnanualforstudyof00coms_0 (wings finely netted with veins; the nodus near the middle of the front margin); (4) University of Kentucky Entomology, Kentucky Critter Files, Dragonflies, https://www.uky.edu/Ag/CritterFiles/casefile/insects/dragonflies/dragonflies.htm (three body parts, two very short antennae, two pairs of wings, large compound eyes, the pattern of veins in the wings, the aquatic naiads). Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; no photograph or plate followed. Licence: own work

How it works

This dragonfly labeling sheet has thirteen numbers and a line for each name. The numbers are on two drawings: a dragonfly seen from above, and one wing with a nymph beneath it.

Read the full guide

Dragonfly worksheet word bank

In alphabetical order: abdomen, antennae, claspers, compound eyes, forewings, head, hindwings, labium, legs, nodus, pterostigma, thorax, wing veins. Lines 1, 2 and 3 end close together at the front of the insect: on the head, on the two domes that cover most of it, and on the two bristles ahead of them.

Label a diagram of a dragonfly: nine names first

The nine parts of the whole dragonfly make a sheet of their own under Start from, numbered 1 to 9: head, compound eyes, antennae, thorax, abdomen, forewings, hindwings, legs and claspers. The four on the second drawing are harder: wing veins, nodus, pterostigma and labium.

When marking, front wings and back wings are right on lines 6 and 7.
Stigma is right on line 12, and mask on line 13.

Questions and answers

What is the difference between a dragonfly and a damselfly?

Look at the wings at rest. A dragonfly holds them out flat, away from its body. Most damselflies fold theirs over the abdomen, and a damselfly is more slender, with its eyes set apart on the sides of the head.

How many eyes does a dragonfly have?

Two large compound eyes and three simple eyes, called ocelli. Some dragonflies' compound eyes hold as many as 28,000 facets. The ocelli are too small to number on this drawing.

What does the pterostigma do?

It helps a dragonfly glide. The pterostigma is heavier than the parts of the wing around it, and without that weight the wing would begin to flutter above a certain speed.

What does Odonata mean?

It comes from the Greek word for tooth. Odonata is the order of dragonflies and damselflies, and the name is said to refer to the strong teeth on the jaws of most adults.