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Grappletail

Octogomphus specularis

Description:

I seen something flying around that I thought was an insect, but it was huge. When I caught up with it I realized it was a dragonfly (unknown) flying with his butterfly dinner!



1 species ID suggestions

5 Comments

Cammie
Cammie 10 months ago

What? Dragonflies EAT butterflies!? Oh my life is changed now =( Lol

annorion
annorion 10 months ago

Great info! Thanks for sharing!

gatorfellows
gatorfellows 10 months ago

As for the butterfly, since there is only one row of orange dots on the underwing; my guess is a Pipevine Swallowtail; Battus philenor. Hard to know for sure.

gatorfellows
gatorfellows 10 months ago

The abdominal tip resembles a small pair of grappling hooks, thus the name. Another feature is the widely separated eyes, a feature shared the "Petaltail" dragonflies. Photo of the face: http://bugguide.net/node/view/56642

annorion
annorion 10 months ago

Thanks Gatorfellows!

Arkansas, USA

Lat: 35.13, Long: -92.93

Spotted on May 23, 2012
Submitted on Jul 26, 2012

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