odonate

noun

1. Any carnivorous insect of the order Odonata; a dragonfly or damselfly.

   “The proportion of these prey that were odonates can be estimated from the food sample data taken at the Potholes (Chapter Four; Orians and Horn, 1969).”

   “Thanks to concern about water birds, these activities have slowed in some regions, and mitigation efforts have provided new wetlands, some of them quite good for odonates.”

   “Aspects of such 'smart engineering' are found also in fossil odonates from the mid-Carboniferous, indicating that versatile flight was developed some 80-100 million years ago (Wootton et al. 1988).”