Nearly forgotten languages are finding new words for Colombia’s dragonflies

Researchers cataloging dragonflies in Guainía, Colombia found the scientific record listed only about 10 species. Working with Indigenous communities, they have identified nearly 120, spanning insects native to the Orinoco and Amazon basins and species endemic to the Guiana Shield.

The dragonflies matter beyond their own diversity: as indicators of freshwater health, they offer a read on ecosystems under pressure from mining, deforestation, waste, and tourism. But cataloging hit a second gap when researchers realized the language of biology meant nothing to communities whose knowledge of the land predates any taxonomy, including some who don't speak Spanish.

Community workshops turned into a recovery project. Puinave, Tucano, and Curripaco community members are now naming the insects in their own languages, sometimes recovering old words from elders, sometimes inventing new ones, and building their own systems for monitoring the dragonflies and the water they depend on.

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