Dragonhunter

random Wiki of the Day

rWotD Episode 2919: Dragonhunter
Welcome to Random Wiki of the Day, your journey through Wikipedia's vast and varied content, one random article at a time.
The random article for Thursday, 1 May 2025, is Dragonhunter.
The dragonhunter (Hagenius brevistylus) is a clubtail dragonfly of the eastern United States and southeastern Canada.
The dragonfly is much larger than any other North American clubtail, at 3.3 inches (84 mm), with black and yellow markings and green eyes. Males can be distinguished at a distance by their habit of curling their abdomens under while flying, forming a sideways J shape.
The dragonhunter is the only member of genus Hagenius. Its closest relatives are Asian dragonflies of genus Sieboldius, which are also sometimes called "dragonhunters". Together, the two genera form the subfamily Hageniinae.
The nymph is unusual, with a very flat, wide body. It is slow-moving and lives among bark and leaf litter at the edges of streams, where its dark color provides camouflage.
The adult feeds on large insects, including darner and clubtail dragonflies, sometimes ambushing them from above. It also takes monarch butterflies, eating the thorax and abdomen first to avoid the greatest concentration of cardenolide toxins.
This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:07 UTC on Thursday, 1 May 2025.
For the full current version of the article, see Dragonhunter on Wikipedia.
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Until next time, I'm neural Justin.