This past month, Butterfly Pavilion has been working around Colorado to continue our vital research on native subalpine dragonflies, whose populations are currently of concern. Since 2017, we’ve focused on conserving three species of emerald dragonflies—the American, Hudson’s, and Mountain Emerald Dragonfly—by monitoring wild populations and collecting eggs from females to rear under human care. These dragonflies take about three to four years to reach adulthood, but only around 2% survive that long in the wild; under our care, we’re able to increase that survival rate to 30–40%. As indicator species, dragonflies help us detect subtle changes in the environment, like declining water quality or shifts in overall ecosystem health. They also play a vital role in the food chain as both predators and prey, feeding on mosquitoes and other small insects. Dragonflies are some of the best flyers in the animal kingdom and have excellent eyesight, making them impressive predators but also harder...