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re: The dragonfly is the most efficient / lethal predator in the animal kingdom
Posted on 9/8/25 at 8:48 pm to duckblind56
Posted on 9/8/25 at 8:48 pm to duckblind56
With the way they smell when you squish them i don't see how anything could eat them
0
Posted on 9/8/25 at 8:50 pm to moe1967
quote:
Lets just say that the mockingbirds and purple martins were not too thrilled with me do so. And they'd let me know about it too. They'd dive bomb to within a foot of my head when I'd walk out the door.. lol
Dude, at least make your stories somewhat believable.
Posted on 9/8/25 at 8:52 pm to Oilfieldbiology
DRAGONFLY
FRUIT FLIES
FRUIT FLIES
Posted on 9/8/25 at 8:56 pm to RazorBroncs
quote:
Paper wasps are the least aggressive members of the wasp family, and are less aggressive than most bees. They will only attack if their nest is being threatened,
Can confirm. One gave me a nice back shot last week when mowing. His nest was dispatched and family deported soon afterward.
Posted on 9/8/25 at 9:04 pm to DownshiftAndFloorIt
quote:
Why are regular red wasps and those little orange a-hole guinea wasps not also "paper" wasps? Their nests look similar to the black and yellow ones we always called paper wasps, but man the little orange bastards are mean.
They are paper wasps. The common name for the Guinea wasp is the Guinea Paper Wasp.
This is a Hunter's Little Paper Wasp. It was trolling old, dead stems where it would strip and chew fibers which were used to make its nest.
It is similar to the Guinea, but smaller.
Posted on 9/8/25 at 9:14 pm to LegendInMyMind
Red wasps will also attack and sting in defense of themselves, whereas the black and yellow paper wasp (as well as the very similar temperament mud dauber) will only go on the offensive in defense of their nest.
Most red wasp stings are from people swatting and agitating them or them feeling trapped in a small area, whereas paper wasps and daubers will mostly leave people alone and go about their business keeping a distance. Red wasps are more aggressive all around.
None of the rules apply for yellowjackets. They are a special kind of a-hole.
Speaking of impressive hunters and killers, mud daubers (or dirt dobbers to some in the south) are baaaad mofos. Regularly mistaken for red or other wasps, they're actually arch enemies and daubers will behead wasps and spiders and feed their insides to their young.
Most red wasp stings are from people swatting and agitating them or them feeling trapped in a small area, whereas paper wasps and daubers will mostly leave people alone and go about their business keeping a distance. Red wasps are more aggressive all around.
None of the rules apply for yellowjackets. They are a special kind of a-hole.
Speaking of impressive hunters and killers, mud daubers (or dirt dobbers to some in the south) are baaaad mofos. Regularly mistaken for red or other wasps, they're actually arch enemies and daubers will behead wasps and spiders and feed their insides to their young.
This post was edited on 9/8/25 at 9:24 pm
Posted on 9/8/25 at 9:18 pm to weagle1999
We live on a lake and every summer and fall we have a lot of dragonflies. They decimate the mosquitoes and no-seeums. We will sit by the lake shore and very frequently see them cruising down the shoreline and over the water hunting. They like to chase each other as well and it's fascinating how fast, quick and agile they are. Better than any airplane dog fights. They like to perch on anything that is straight and thin and we watch them zip away for a second or two before landing back where they were and do this continually. Every time they do this they are eating a nat, mosquito, etc. They are so fast you can't see what they are catching.
Posted on 9/8/25 at 9:22 pm to weagle1999
Several years back I was laying by a pool and there was a dragonfly perched at the end of my chair. And I saw a mosquito land on the ground like 2 feet away and start flailing around. It was right in the dragonfly's line of sight, so I was like aw hell yeah, this mosquito has no idea how fricked he is. It watched the mosquito for about 30 seconds, then in the blink of an eye it took off and snatched it in one fell swoop and returned to its perch. It was awesome. Like my own personal nature documentary
Posted on 9/8/25 at 9:26 pm to jeffsdad
quote:
Blue birds were eating the dragonflies. Just amazing to watch.
We have barn swallows chasing and eating dragonflies here in Mid-Florida. Sometimes they are criss-crossing the highways and roads and it is hard to avoid them (the barn swallows).
Posted on 9/8/25 at 9:31 pm to Neauxla_Tiger
I like watching dragonflies drinking water. They do little "touch and goes" like little airplanes on puddles or other bodies of water. It's a weird reminder that all living things need to drink water despite how human or inhuman, large or small we are
Posted on 9/8/25 at 9:31 pm to weagle1999
They ain’t that fast.
Posted on 9/8/25 at 9:32 pm to moe1967
Did you grow up to be a serial killer?
Posted on 9/8/25 at 9:35 pm to weagle1999
Nature is awesome 
Posted on 9/8/25 at 9:39 pm to Oates Mustache
quote:If horseflies can calculate risk, then they've calculated landing on my shoulder blade while I'm on the tractor wrong, because I've got a 93% success rate too.
I don't see how that works. I doubt mosquitoes have the capacity to calculate risk.
So, I agree.
Posted on 9/8/25 at 9:44 pm to Midget Death Squad
quote:
ove seeing all the dragonflies in my yard. Means I have less mosquitoes
Random trivia…. They’re actually called Mosquito Hawks not Dragonflies.
What are commonly called mosquito hawks that bounce around your house are Crane Flies…. And they don’t eat mosquitoes or anything because they don’t have mouths. They just breed and die.
ETA: when I found this out a year or so ago in my 40s, I felt like my entire childhood was a lie
This post was edited on 9/8/25 at 9:46 pm
Posted on 9/8/25 at 9:45 pm to mudshuvl05
quote:
calculated landing on my shoulder blade while I'm on the tractor wrong, because I've got a 93% success rate
are you trying to say that you kill 93% of horseflies that land on your shoulder blades?
Posted on 9/8/25 at 9:48 pm to meeple
quote:
They’re actually called Mosquito Hawks not Dragonflies.
frick yea!
I had this debate at work a few weeks ago and will be citing this post tomorrow.
Posted on 9/8/25 at 9:48 pm to weagle1999
Great thread. This Summer I’ve noticed that I have almost no mosquitoes in my back yard. Coincidentally, I’ve seen many more dragonflies at my water garden. This thread has shown why the mosquitoes are in decline. I knew that hummingbirds eat lots of mosquitoes but I had no idea that dragonflies feast on them.
Posted on 9/8/25 at 10:01 pm to meeple
quote:
Random trivia…. They’re actually called Mosquito Hawks not Dragonflies.
What are commonly called mosquito hawks that bounce around your house are Crane Flies…. And they don’t eat mosquitoes or anything because they don’t have mouths. They just breed and die.
I'm having an existential crisis right now
I always doubted those long legged things that seemingly had no ability to fly quickly, react, or even see, were able to effectively hunt mosquitoes, but my brain assumed they were named that for a reason so I must be stupid
Posted on 9/8/25 at 10:02 pm to highcotton2
quote:
They ain’t that fast.
The Tree Swallow is my favorite bird and it is acrobatic as hell. That's elite vs elite.
I could watch the Swallows fly all day.
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