jammy git to have access to HD ultra fast cameras .

Just listen to those massive jaws crunch down!

Fear the dragon!

*bugs

Adding video to channels (Bugs) - requested by ant.

It's hard to see but I think that's actually a dragonfly. Dragonflies hold their wings out to the sides when at rest while damselflies hold them perpendicular, along their sides.

>> ^ChairfaceChippendale:

Just listen to those massive jaws crunch down!
Fear the dragon!


Odd that it sounds like biting into an apple.

upvote for awesome video footage.
downvote for idiotically "enhanced" crunching sound effects.

Not sure but I think it's a dragonfly too. Damselflies, at least the ones at my lake, don't actually eat during their adult lifespan. They have no mouth.

Perhaps they're different where this guy was filming though.

I think you MAY be thinking of the mayfly, Retro. Me so punny.

At first glance I was inclined to agree with xxovercastxx, considering the positioning of the wings (something to consider though, they do not always have the appearance of being near-perfectly parallel to the body, sometimes sticking out at acute angles away from the point of attachment/thorax, which sorta looks like the one in the vid and may be easy to confuse with the dragon fly's wing arrangement when viewed from certain angles), BUT there are a couple of very un-dragonfly-like features here as well.

Most species of dragon flies have their compound eyes touching/fused at the top of the head, looking like one cohesive structure, while mayflies' eyes are placed more on the sides of the head and protrude outwards more, with a noticeable gap of forehead space in between them. Also, the base of the bottom pair of wings seems too skinny to be a dragon fly, where usually the bottom wings remain much broader for much longer, compared to the top pair as you get closer to thorax before finally tapering down to the connection point, though there may be exceptions in morphology from species to species.

I'm no entomologist though, just someone who enjoys watching these buggers go about their business (they're surprisingly tolerant of people and seem quite intelligent for insects, I'd say jumping spiders, Phidippus Audax specifically, are the only creepy crawlies around here that appear to be any smarter, more charming, gregarious than dragon/damsel flies).

I'm too torn either way to definitively call it. I did enjoy speculating about it quite needlessly though. Yay insomnia and Videosift!!

I'm pretty sure it's a damselfly similar to this genus of spreadwings: http://www.cirrusimage.com/damselfly_emerald_spreadwing.htm

>> ^mxxcon:

upvote for awesome video footage.
downvote for idiotically "enhanced" crunching sound effects.


The crunching sound was the best part!