Question: This question stems from a commonly depicted mode of transportation, the ornithopter. It is the primary flight tool in the latest Dune movie as well as seen in Black Panther and in several books I've been reading. My question is where did the idea for this flying machine first stem from as it seems to be a primary mode of flight for futuristic societies.

Edit: while the comment does answer where the name comes from and its design. I am specifically looking to the dragonfly design that has become associated with the name.

Answer: 
**1930:** ["The First Ornithopter"](https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?85333), a short story by [Jack Winks](https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?13546), in [*Amazing Stories*, January 1930](https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?56355), available at the [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/Amazing_Stories_v04n10_1930-01_sas/page/n64/mode/1up?view=theater). Review by [Everett F. Bleiler](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._F._Bleiler) in [*Science-Fiction: The Gernsback Years*](https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?316908+f):

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> The reclusive inventor John Petite has constructed what might be a successful one-man flying machine with flapping wings. Unfortunately, he does not have an adequate power source. While making a brief trial flight he chances to meet electrical engineer Grossman, who can provide a far superior battery than Petite has, and constructs a more efficient motor. As a result, after a few mishaps, the ornithopter flies beautifully.
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My great grand father the french engineer René Riout devoted himself for three decades to the realization of flapping wing ornithopters. In 1905 he invented his first models. In 1909 he won the gold medal in the Lépine competition for a reduced model. In 1913 he worked on the development of a model ordered by a pilot, the Dubois-Riout. The tests were stopped in 1916. In 1937, he finalized the Riout 102T Alérion, certainly the most successful piloted flapping wing ornithopter until the second decade of the 21st century. Unfortunately, the conclusions of the wind tunnel tests were not favorable to the continuation of the project.
[Ornithopter Riout 102T Alérion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ornithopter#/media/File:Riout_102T_Al%C3%A9rion_by_Ren%C3%A9_Riout_France.jpg)
You have more image on [W.Pearce Riout 102T Alérion Ornithopter](http://oldmachinepress.com/2017/11/20/riout-102t-alerion-ornithopter/)
**Doesn't it look like Dune Ornithopter?**