Page 25 - Design in Nature

The Miraculous Design in the Flight of Insects 23

dragonflies of today. There is no remains of "a half-dragonfly" or a
"dragonfly with newly emerging wings" that predates these oldest fossils.
Just as the rest of the life forms, the dragonfly, too, appeared all at once
and has not changed to this day. In other words, it was created by Allah and
never "evolved".
The skeletons of insects are formed by a tough, protective substance,
called chitin. This substance was created with enough strength to form the
exoskeleton. It is also flexible enough to be moved by the muscles used for
flight. The wings can move back and forth or up and down. This motion of
wings is facilitated by a complex joint structure. The dragonfly has two
pairs of wings, one in a forward position with respect to the other. The
wings operate asynchronously. That is, while the two frontal wings ascend,
the back pair of wings descend. Two opposing muscle groups move the
wings. The muscles are tied to levers inside the body. While one group of
muscles pull up a pair of wings by contracting, the other muscle group
opens the other pair by reflexing. Helicopters ascend and descend by a
similar technique. This allows a dragonfly to hover, go backward, or quickly
change direction.

The chitin substance surrounding the body of
insects is strong enough to act as a
skeleton, which in this insect, is
formed into a very eye-
catching colour.