It Came From Above!

by Licia Johnson

While attempting to photograph a Red Admiral butterfly, an unidentified dragonfly flew in and pinned the butterfly to the ground.  Peter was lucky enough to witness this and catch a shot with his camera.  Although most of the adult dragonfly’s diet consists of members of the Diptera order, the true flies, juvenile dragonflies will sometimes eat butterflies and moths.  They strip off and discard the wings before they eat them headfirst.  Dragonflies are amazing aerial hunters.  This strategy for catching insects in midair is known as “hawking.”  They can also hover briefly above vegetation to grab small insects on plant leaves and stems, known as “gleaning.”  

Photo by Peter Rebholz