I believe it was one of these (Anax walsinghami) the largest Dragonfly species in North America:
woah. that is huge. little buddy missed the carboniferous period!
ikr lol?! Apparently this one was one of the largest specimens of the largest species in NA. As someone that once did field studies for evolutionary biology I knew I was seeing something very special.
To get to that size this one was likely around 4 or 5 years old which is about their maximum lifespan.
Oh yeah, that’s a giant darner for sure. Great identification!
First one I have ever seen. they are more common in the southwest and northern Mexico. Probably made its way up here due to the extra warm late summer/early fall temps.
My dog would eat it. My other dog would bark a lot and run away.
Are these dogs dogs or like your puppygirls?
Real dogs. I have 6, 4 of them wouldn’t care at all.
This is really good dox info so I’ll probably remove it later. Or maybe the numbers are a lie OoOOoOOoooOOOooooOOoo
My puppy girl will doxx your dogs
rescued
What happened?
I was out on my porch smoking a cigarette when I heard it hovering above me and no joke sounded like a hummingbird which I know are not nocturnal and then all of a sudden it flew into my hallway after I think it obliterated a spiderweb and then got some dust bunnies stuck in the web. I shut my door and waited for it to calm down, then took a pen and carefully removed what I could of the web and debris from it’s wings and then set it free.
The whole time I was wondering for the first time ever “Wait do dragonflies bite?”
They actually can bite if they feel very threatened, but most species can’t really hurt you or break the skin. I think A. walsinghami might be large enough to give a noticeable bite, akin to pinching yourself with your fingernails.
Yeah further research says this is one of the few with mandibles powerful enough to break skin but as you said only if you are handling them roughly. I know they aren’t venomous or anything but still didn’t want to find out what it feels like to get bit by a dragonfly the size of a small bird lol.
In all my decades of animal study and observation this is in the top 10 coolest things I have ever seen.
Another fun dragonfly fact: They drink through their butt lol
They drink through their butt lol
Omg twin!!
Dragonflies are so cool. There’s so many little darners in my area during the summer and it’s awesome to watch them do fighter jet aerial tricks while hunting little bugs.
They are one of the only organisms that can actually turn in place while hovering, due to their four wings. While hummingbirds come close they cannot actually do a zero point turn. They also can’t walk. They can only perch as their legs have evolved for maximum gripping strength and have little articulation otherwise. They also are one of the only animals ever observed eating prey mid flight.
They drink through their butt lol
fit right in on the supreme court
Cigs bring biological luck.
Damn that’s big
Nothing in the shot for scale but I think it was about 4.5 inches from the front of the head to the end of the abdomen and wingspan was about 5 inches
Pic (not mine) with hand for scale.
The one I took the pic of was bigger.
And here are some photos of one eating a beetle
https://faculty.ucr.edu/~chappell/INW/arthropods/giantdarner.shtml
Seeing a bug of that size generally means a bug near the end of its lifetime. But this is not sad news, this bug beat the odds and lived an incredibly long life! Think of all the cars and birds it dodged, all the other buggies it ate along the way. Fascinating find!
Yeah I did field studies decades ago in college and even worked a bit on the California condor restoration project. But thank you for the optimism God knows we could all use a little positivity these days.
Thanks, I’m trying to be more positive in my posting, it feels nice to be nice among my comrades.
Also speaking of bugs it ate. Dragonflies are one of, if not the most efficient predators on the planet with over 95% success rate when hunting.
No wonder they always zoom around like they’re in charge of the place.
Damn that’s a honker! That sounds like a really cool interaction too, I’m glad you saved them!
CUTE!
That thing is dope as hell!!
Is he doing a nose stand?
