Survivors of Catastrophe Now Face a Man-Made Threat
Picture a summer pond dappled with sunlight, its air shimmering as dragonflies dart and weave in acrobatic mating displays. These ancient insects have outlasted the dinosaurs, survived the asteroid impact that ended the Cretaceous, and adapted through ice ages and epochs. Yet in the 21st century, a new existential threat endangers these resilient survivors—a threat born not of cosmic calamity, but of human-driven climate upheaval and relentless wildfire.
A recent study published in Nature Climate Change and led by the University of Colorado Denver jolted the scientific community with a sobering revelation: the very traits that have allowed certain dragonfly species to flourish—their spectacular dark wing spots—are ironically making them prime victims of our overheating world. Using four decades of data and over 1,600 local extinction records across 60 dragonfly species, researchers determined that those with dark, melanin-rich wing ornamentation are vanishing from the landscapes most affected by wildfires and temperature spikes.
Thermal imaging leaves little doubt as to why. The signature dark patches, once pivotal in the sexual pageantry of courtship, now prove a dangerous liability. Absorbing sunlight with ruthless efficiency, the ornate wings cause their bearers—most often males—to overheat rapidly. Rather than showcasing themselves in dazzling airborne displays, these dragonflies are forced into the shade to cool off, missing crucial opportunities to mate. This shift from competition to survival does not bode well for their genetic legacy.
Sexual Selection Meets Climate Selection: An Overlooked Collision
Conservation biology has historically emphasized ecological adaptations like thermal tolerance, habitat specialization, or body size when assessing species risk. Yet this landmark study upends those assumptions. As lead author Sarah Nalley explains, “Dragonflies have survived asteroids, but now climate change and wildfires are threatening them in ways evolution can’t keep up with.” In other words, the race between reproductive success and climate-induced stress suddenly tilts toward extinction for some of our most spectacularly ornamented insects.
A closer look reveals that it isn’t overheating alone that strangles their reproductive future. Local extinctions among ornamented dragonflies correlate weakly with classic risk factors. Instead, it is the interplay of climate and sexual selection: those dazzling wing spots, prized by potential mates, now mean disaster under unrelenting sun and regular fire. Professor Jessica Ware, an evolutionary biologist at the American Museum of Natural History, notes that sexual selection has always been a double-edged sword—traits that attract mates can also attract predators or pose energetic costs. What is new, she says, is that “climate change transforms these costs from manageable to catastrophic.”
Wildfires make matters worse. Fire scars the landscape, further narrowing the remaining habitat where dragonflies with showy wings can display for mates without baking themselves to death. As natural cycles intensify into infernos—fueled by prolonged droughts and hotter summers—what was once rare habitat disturbance has become a recurring phenomenon. The very arenas where sexual selection once flourished now serve as crucibles of extinction.
“Losing these dragonflies is not just about losing beauty—it’s a warning siren for entire ecosystems.”
Dragonflies are both predators and prey: voracious consumers of mosquitoes, they also provide a vital food source for birds, amphibians, and fish. Their catastrophic decline threatens to reverberate through entire freshwater systems, a cascade of loss that jeopardizes biodiversity and ecological resilience alike.
Adaptation on a Short Fuse—And The Fight for Conservation
Throughout the natural world, sexual selection is often celebrated as the spark behind animal diversity and beauty. Yet the same spectacular traits can fast-track species toward oblivion when the environment turns hostile overnight. Harvard entomologist Dr. Thomas Seeley reminds us, “Evolution is not a guarantee of safety when change is this rapid. No species is adapted for an environment it’s never faced before.” In the scramble to survive, adaptation lags far behind the speed of anthropogenic warming and megafire events.
Some might argue that evolution will rescue the dragonflies—they’ll simply shed their ornaments or shift their behaviors. But the data paint a bleaker picture. Four decades of citizen science records and field surveys show that once these traits disappear from a population, recovery is rare, especially under constant climate siege. According to a 2023 Pew Research report, nearly 7 in 10 Americans recognize that climate change is harming global biodiversity, yet U.S. land management policies still lag far behind the science. Wildfire control efforts seldom prioritize species’ unique reproductive needs—often because such evidence-based nuance is missing from the political conversation.
Beyond that, the implications for conservation run deep. Strategies built solely around preserving habitat or assuming adaptation will keep pace with change ignore the fine print of evolution. As University of Colorado’s team emphasizes, fire management and conservation must account for mating behavior and sexual selection sensitivity, especially for vulnerable ornamented species. Anything less misses the mark, both ethically and biologically.
If we choose to act like stewards, not passive witnesses, we can champion smart, science-driven management—applying controlled burns at cooler seasons, safeguarding critical unburned refuges, and integrating the latest research on reproductive traits into policy design. The fate of dragonflies, and the vitality of countless ecosystems they anchor, may hinge on embracing that challenge. Future generations deserve the spectacle of dragonflies whirling above sunlit ponds, not just a chapter in the history of extinction.
