11 – 28 FEBRUARY
Organised by: the Institute for Nature Conservation of Serbia
The exhibition provides an overview of the diversity and importance of dragonflies inhabiting our country. The exhibition narrative commences with the earliest written notes recording these insects in the Principality of Serbia in the mid-19th century, and follows the first studies and field research conducted by teachers and students of the Second Belgrade Grammar School in the then Principality of Serbia. The exhibition further continues by shedding light on the role of travel writers and early researchers, as well as the emergence of the first scientific papers dedicated to this exceptional group of insects, with basic taxonomic divisions and pointed differences between groups.
Exhibition visitors will get an opportunity to learn about unusual characteristics and the dragonflies’ life cycle, as creatures born in water. The colour spectrum and the beauty of dragonflies’ wings are completely opposite to the nature of these animals, which are of exclusively predatory nature. These insects fly extraordinarily skilfully and quickly, hunting their prey with the highest level of precision in the world of animals. In addition to presenting the uniqueness of this group related to their development, body shape, habits and habitat choice, the exhibition features stories on some rare and newly discovered species in the territory of Serbia. Their behaviour in the proximity of water is particularly analysed, as well as the mating process, in which male and female form a copulatory link while in flight, thus creating a heart-shaped structure. The exhibition displays include dragonfly exuviae, mounted specimens of adult dragonflies, as well as details of the jaws of their larvae magnified with the help of a binocular magnifying glass.
The video ‘Wings above Water’, authored by Jelena Kovačević, will be featured as part of the exhibition. It was created in cooperation with an entomologist from the Institute for Nature Conservation of Serbia, Aca Đurđević, an expert associate on this exhibition. The video features a conversation with the entomologist, and it follows his field research in the natural habitats of dragonflies. In some sequences of the video, three-year-old Gavrilo Đurđević, one of the youngest entomologist-enthusiasts in our country, also appears.