Male odonates have a copulatory organ on the ventral side of abdominal segment 2 in which they store spermatozoa; they mate by holding the female's head ( Anisoptera ) or thorax ( Zygoptera ) with claspers located at the tip of the male abdomen; the female bends her abdomen forward to touch the male organ and receive sperm.
32.
The fossil Paleozoic " giant dragonflies " like " Meganeuropsis permiana " from the Permian of North America with up to 71 cm wing span and 43 cm body length have been the largest insects of all times and belonged to the order Meganisoptera, the griffinflies, related to odonates but not part of the modern order Odonata in the restricted sense.
33.
The smallest living dragonfly is " Nannophya pygmaea " ( Anisoptera : Libellulidae ) from east Asia, which a body length of 15 mm and a wing span of 20 mm, and the smallest damselflies ( and smallest odonates of all times ) are species of the genus " Agriocnemis " ( Zygoptera : Coenagrionidae ) with a wing span of only 17 18 mm.
