A dragonfly is a long, thin insect with two pairs of clear wings and often a bright body. It lives near ponds, lakes and slow rivers, and it hunts smaller insects in the air. It can hover, then shoot off very fast, which is why people notice it.

A dragonflydragonfly（蜻蜓）， is a long, thin insect with two pairs of clear wings是一種細長的昆蟲，有兩對透明的翅膀， and often a bright body身體通常帶有鮮豔的顏色。It lives near ponds, lakes and slow rivers牠住在池塘、湖泊，和流速慢的河邊， and it hunts smaller insects in the air在空中獵捕比較小的昆蟲。It can hover, then shoot off very fast牠可以停在半空中，然後突然飛快衝出去， which is why people notice it這也是大家會注意到牠的原因。

The English name is simply dragon plus fly: it looked, to earlier speakers, a little like a tiny flying dragon — though actually it is just an insect, not a baby dragon at all. Fly here is the old word for a flying insect, as in housefly, not the verb to fly.

The English name is simply dragon plus fly英文名字就是dragon加fly： it looked, to earlier speakers, a little like a tiny flying dragon對以前的人來說，牠看起來有點像一隻會飛的小龍—— though actually it is just an insect, not a baby dragon at all不過其實牠就只是昆蟲，完全不是小龍。Fly here is the old word for a flying insect這裡的fly是「會飛的昆蟲」的舊說法， as in housefly就像housefly（家蠅）裡的那個fly， not the verb to fly不是動詞「飛」。

In everyday talk this is a common nature word; children learn it early. Scientists split dragonflies into many kinds, but most people use one word for the big ones with the long bodies.

In everyday talk this is a common nature word在日常對話裡，這是個常見的自然用字； children learn it early小孩子很早就會學到。Scientists split dragonflies into many kinds科學家把蜻蜓分成很多種， but most people use one word for the big ones with the long bodies但大部分人對那些身體長長的大型蜻蜓，都用同一個字。

A close cousin is the damselfly, usually slimmer, which often rests with its wings folded together; dragonflies usually rest with the wings held out. People mix those two up a lot.

A close cousin is the damselfly牠有個近親叫damselfly（豆娘）， usually slimmer通常更細瘦， which often rests with its wings folded together休息的時候常常把翅膀收起來合在一起； dragonflies usually rest with the wings held out蜻蜓休息的時候翅膀通常是張開的。People mix those two up a lot大家常常把這兩種搞混。