Jeanie Lake, age 13, of Miami, Fla., for her question:

WHY DO WE CALL IT A DRAGONFLY?

An insect that is really a friend of man is the dragonfly. The unusual creature received its name because it looks somewhat the way you would expect a dragon to look: a long body, a large head with two big eyes, a tiny set of antennae and two pairs of long narrow wings.

Another name for the dragonfly is the devil's darning needle. At one tine children were told that it would sew up their lips if they told lies.

Dragonflies help man by eating mosquitoes and other insect pests.

There are about 3,000 kinds of dragonflies found primarily in Central and South America. Many varieties can be found living near still waters in temperate parts of North America. The two inch long dragonflies come in green, blue, bronze, amber, white sad red.

True dragonflies hold their wings out is a horizontal position when they rest. Another type, called the damsel flies, hold their wings straight above their bodies when renting.