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All right.

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Hello and welcome to Invertedcast.

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I am Lea from Tarantula and obviously here at Invertedcast.

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And today Simon is actually at the Great Ant Expedition.

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So they're in the UK.

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I am not there, unfortunately.

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But that's why he's not here.

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So I'm going to be doing this all by myself.

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Clearly.

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So, but as I said before, all good.

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Like we got this.

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So today I will be discussing dragonflies and it's a really cool topic because I found

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so much folklore about dragonflies, which is really, really fantastic.

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So lots of cool old like mythologies and legends that surround this incredible insect.

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But I also found all kinds of just fantastic scientific information.

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And I'm here to bring it to you guys so you don't have to do all the dirty work, right?

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So I did all the research so that you guys don't have to.

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So dragonflies are classified as Anasoptera and they are, there are about roughly about

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3000 species of these aerial predatory insects.

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They're found next to freshwater habitats throughout most of the world.

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So you can pretty much find them everywhere, which is pretty fantastic, I think.

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They are also, they're classified as Anasoptera, but their genera, what's the, their genera

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or their order is Oronata.

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So they are characterized, so if you've ever seen a dragonfly, you know that they look

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like these long bodies with probably about four wings, right?

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And you would be absolutely precisely correct on that.

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So they are, they do have long bodies with two narrow pairs of intricately veined, membranous

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wings.

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Their wings are mostly transparent, but many of them can be colored and have like markings

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and all that cool stuff.

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But one difference about their wings that when the dragonfly is at rest, their wings

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will spread horizontally rather than coming together vertically like other flying insects.

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So that's another unique thing about dragonflies.

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Because there is a species of dragonfly that is migratory, which means that this dragonfly

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will basically travel from one place to another in a migration pattern that they always do

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like annually.

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So the migratory dragonfly makes an annual multi-generational journey of about 18,000

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kilometers, which comes out to be about 11,200 miles.

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So a long way to go.

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That's like at least, dude, that's halfway around the world, honestly.

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Also dragonflies, you can tell that you're looking at a dragonfly because they have these

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huge bulging eyes that occupy most of their head.

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They give them, these eyes give them about approximately a 360 degree view of the world,

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obviously.

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So they have a 360 degree view, field of vision.

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They are large and colorful insects, obviously, with a wingspan that can be up to six inches.

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And the smallest dragonfly has been close to an inch, so about 0.8 inch, which, you

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know, eight tenths of an inch essentially.

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They are agile flyers and among the fastest insects in the world, they have been clocked

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at about at the fastest at 18 miles per hour, which I don't know what the kilometers per

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hour is on that.

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Sorry, guys.

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I'll have to convert it sometime.

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But anyhow, they are the fastest, some of the fastest flyers in the world.

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And their wing muscles have to be warm in order for them to function at optimal levels.

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They eat other small flying insects and some regularly consume prey that is 60 percent

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their own body weight, which again is just incredible.

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And not only not only do they consume prey that is 60 percent their own body weight,

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but they also capture that prey in midair.

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Like as they're flying, they just snatch it out of the air.

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So we're going to talk about their flight patterns and kind of how they are able to

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fly the way that they do here in a moment.

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But first, let's talk about when they are young and their larval stage.

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So usually they you can call them larvae or nymphs.

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That is pretty much the same thing.

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But essentially, when they are in their larval stage, they they are aquatic, almost like

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completely aquatic.

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And they also are predatory, even in their larval stage.

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So they possess an anatomical structure that adults don't possess while they are in their

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nipple stage.

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And it's called a mask.

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But essentially what it is, it's a fusion of the third pair of mouth parts that include

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thing like pinchers.

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That are used to seize prey like worms, crustaceans, tadpoles and small fish.

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And then basically it's a set of pinchers that they will use to to grab, you know, small

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prey items in the water.

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And then they eat them up, essentially.

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So and also they in their nipple stage, they actually will ingest water and then propel

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it or shoot it out of their rectum, essentially.

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And that's how they propel themselves along the water while they while they are living

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their aquatic lives.

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And typically they live most of their lives, uh, aquatically.

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So they most of most of a dragonfly's life is actually underwater.

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So it's in the water, in the freshwater.

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And so when you see them flying around and stuff, you're essentially looking at like,

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you know, two to three year old dragonfly.

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So that's another interesting aspect of the dragonfly, as we all know.

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Alrighty.

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Let's see.

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Once they are, so they crawl, they essentially crawl from their eggs that are typically laid

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in or near water sometimes, or some species of them will lay their eggs in like plant

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soft plant tissues.

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Others attach eggs to substrates or just above the water surface.

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Others will just drop their eggs just right over a body of water as they are flying, which

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is pretty pretty fascinating.

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About halfway through their larval stage, their wings will become apparent.

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So their wings start to emerge.

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And of course those wings, um, as that, as that nymph grows and bolts over time, then

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those wings are, are going to become more and more apparent and more and more developed,

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which is really cool.

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And so, yeah.

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So the first fossil record of dragonflies was 300 million years ago, which again is

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really incredible.

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But that's, I mean, that's all the way back to like the Jurassic period.

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Um, so they are one of the very first insects to ever inhabit our planet earth.

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And they can live up to six and a half years.

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And again, as I said, they live mostly as nymphs underwater.

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And that's pretty fascinating.

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So I also found some really cool facts about dragonflies.

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So I'll go through those.

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They can intercept prey in midair.

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So essentially they don't chase prey.

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They snag them from midair with a calculated aerial pursuit or an ambush.

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And yeah, like, so they have each, uh, each of their wings has its own set of muscles

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that controls that wing.

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And so that's again, another one of those really, really cool, fascinating facts about

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dragonflies.

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Um, they have very sharp mandibles and in, in all actuality, odonata means like directly

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translates to toothed ones.

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So they catch prey with their feet.

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So as they're flying, they'll, they'll see a prey item, like a mosquito or, or something

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like that, and they will calculate how fast the mosquito is going and how, you know, what

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kind of speed they need to be able to catch that mosquito.

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And then they will just catch it, snag it, but they catch it with their feet.

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And then they use those mandibles to basically rip off the wings of this other flying insect

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and then devour it, uh, live essentially.

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So they, they tear off the wings so that that other prey insect can't escape.

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They can't get away from the dragonfly, which again is really, really kind of cool, but

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also brutal and terrifying.

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Um, so many brutal, terrifying things in the, uh, invertebrate world.

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Don't you think?

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Hmm.

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Excuse me a moment.

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All right.

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So as I said before, they are freaky fliers.

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So they have two sets of wings with muscles that basically control each set of wings.

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So each, each wing that they have, they have four wings.

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So each wing is controlled by its own set of muscles.

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Okay.

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Which is amazing.

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So each wing can, can basically operate independently.

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And this also allows them to be incredibly agile.

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They can fly forward, backwards, side to side.

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They can even hover, um, a lot like a harrier jet, but, uh, I think a better, a better like

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comparison as far as flying goes would be a helicopter because those helicopters, they

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can, they can fly forward, they can fly backwards, but side to side.

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Um, and, and they can also kind of hover, but actually dragonflies can hover a lot better

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than a helicopter does.

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So that's pretty incredible.

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And they also, again, as I said, they can reach that top speed of 18 miles per hour.

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So again, another, it just, just amazing fact about dragonflies.

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Um, they're just, they're just incredible creatures.

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And the fact that they're predatory, I mean, it really makes sense.

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They, they're kind of set up in a way that like other flying insects really don't stand

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a chance.

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So, all right, let's talk about their eyeballs.

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So their eyeballs are these huge, enormous, like bulbous deals that pretty much take up

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their entire head as we've stated before, but essentially they contain, uh, 30,000 facets

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within that one eye.

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So what that means is they can see colors and they can see things that we can't, they

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have like a 360 degree view of their world, essentially.

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So that also means that they can narrow in on, in a swarm of other insects.

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So say there's a swarm of like mosquitoes or a swarm of moths and butterflies and stuff.

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They can actually narrow down to one, one of those mosquitoes or one of those butterflies

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and then calculate how fast they need to get at them and how fast, you know, they can kind

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of predict where those other flying insects are going to be going.

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Essentially, and then fly at it and pretty much ambush it and take it down in that manner

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and use those incredibly agile wings to be able to capture that flying prey.

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They spend, again, they spend a lot of time underwater as in their nymphal stage.

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So some species actually can spend six years underwater.

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And the last like six or so months of their life will be spent flying as a dragonfly.

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So when you see a dragonfly flying through the air, you're really looking at something,

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an insect that is in its last like six months to a year of its life.

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So essentially when it is flying and predating on other flying insects and whatnot, that

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its sole purpose is essentially to procreate and then kill insects and die.

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Let's see.

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Carrie is asking, small Apollo wants to know if their eyesight is very sharp with all that

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amazing lens action.

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Absolutely.

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So their eyesight is incredible.

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They can actually see ultraviolet, an ultraviolet spectrum that I don't believe humans can perceive,

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if you will.

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So they, as I said before, like their eyesight is so good that they can just single out one

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mosquito within a horde of them or a swarm of them.

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So one mosquito and a swarm of mosquitoes, they can narrow down onto that one mosquito

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and basically predict where its trajectory is.

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And that's how they end up ambushing that mosquito and taking it down.

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It's pretty incredible.

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Pretty incredible indeed.

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And so when we're looking at them, if you look at the thumbnail picture of the dragonfly

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that I used for this episode is actually a picture that I took myself of a little dragonfly

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that was in my backyard.

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And it was so beautiful.

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And I just, I love dragonflies.

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I actually really love how their heads are able to move like just almost completely around

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like that.

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And I also really love their eyes.

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Their eyes are fascinating.

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So as I'm looking at this dragonfly and I might look away and maybe the dragonfly looks

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away but that dragonfly can still see me, whereas I can't.

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Let's see.

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Oh yes.

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So Eden Inverts says that dragonflies are living helicopters with built-in radar systems

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and can't see very well.

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We have tons of them around the lakes here.

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Oh yeah.

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I mean, dragonflies are pretty incredible.

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I thought that they have pretty good vision and their vision is definitely better than

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ours.

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So Carrie says, wow, so they really use their site for hunting and defense.

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It's why they are so hard to catch.

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Yeah, absolutely.

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I mean, they are really, really hard to catch even when they are sitting still and whatnot.

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Like they are incredibly fast.

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So if you try to like, you know, capture that dragonfly, it's going to see you before you

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even are there.

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You know, it's going to calculate that, oh, the human is probably going to try and reach

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at me.

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You know, like they can calculate and feel the error changes and whatnot before it even

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happens.

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So yeah, just an incredible, all around incredible creatures.

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Oh, no worries Eden Inverts.

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I understand about typing errors.

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I make them all the time.

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If you guys join in my Discord server, Inverticast does now have a Discord server.

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I will of course link that down below at the end of this podcast or at the end of the stream.

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That way you guys can join if you'd like and you can talk to me and stuff.

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But yes, I do make lots of typos.

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Stupid auto correct, right?

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So yeah, their eyes are enormous, their compound and they have 30,000 facets, which I believe

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means that how we have one retina, they have essentially 30,000 retinas.

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So they have 30,000 pupils and retinas that pick up everything.

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So amazing.

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They are incredibly beneficial to us.

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Just overall, like they, normally are they incidental pollinators because they fly around

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and stuff and a lot of times they'll land on other plant matter and things like that

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to rest.

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And through that they will pick up a little bit of pollen and as they fly away they will

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probably drop that pollen somewhere and pollinate low flower.

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So incidental pollinators, which we need.

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But they are also beneficial because they are pest control for like populations of mosquitoes

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and biting flies and stuff like that.

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That's what they predate on or so that's what they eat.

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And that actually means a lot to us because these guys are very prolific when it comes

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to being a predator.

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So I found that they can eat like one dragonfly in an entire span of a day can eat up to 30

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between 30 and 100 and hundreds like hundreds.

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So 30 to like 400 mosquitoes in one day.

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Which again is just incredible.

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So if you see those dragonflies hanging around your house or you're at a park and there's

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some dragonflies there, leave those guys alone because they really are helping us out.

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Mosquitoes and biting flies are a pretty big threat to human beings because they carry

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diseases like malaria and other bloodborne pathogens like the West Nile virus.

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I know there's been a lot of noise coming from that whole thing because it's kind of

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a newer disease and we don't really know how to handle it.

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So there's that.

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And that actually is transmitted to mosquitoes.

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So if you see those dragonflies flying around, just let them be.

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Don't catch them.

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Don't do anything with them.

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They are helping us to battle those bloodborne pathogens and those diseases that you really

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don't want to contract.

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00:20:15,280 --> 00:20:18,560
Alright, let's get into folklore guys.

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Okay.

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00:20:19,560 --> 00:20:29,260
So generally dragonflies are believed to carry the souls of the deceased into the afterlife.

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And so that's kind of a theme throughout a lot of the folklore and like cultures that

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I found.

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The theme of it's kind of a major facet of those mythologies that they have a pretty

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big impact on the afterlife or like carrying those spirits.

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So let's get into it.

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And Japanese mythology.

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So we're heading over to Japan first.

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They believe that red dragonflies are believed to be the spirits of the dead visiting their

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loved ones.

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So they also see dragonflies as a symbol of courage and bravery because of their agile

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flight patterns and predatory nature.

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They are also seen as a good fortune and they are believed to bring good luck and prosperity

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and of course harmony.

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Because I mean, they're so pretty.

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So of course I feel like there's a very harmonious like air about dragonflies for sure.

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They also bring a sense of peace and prosperity often depicted that way in traditional Japanese

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art and design.

283
00:21:45,760 --> 00:21:54,600
So you can often see dragonflies just being very kind of harmonious.

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Thank you Eden Inverts.

285
00:21:55,760 --> 00:21:59,160
I have heard this about the afterlife as well.

286
00:21:59,160 --> 00:22:00,160
Very interesting.

287
00:22:00,160 --> 00:22:01,880
I agree.

288
00:22:01,880 --> 00:22:04,440
And it's not just one or two cultures.

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It really seems to be kind of across the board that dragonflies are seen to carry spirits.

290
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Sometimes they're messengers.

291
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It's really fascinating.

292
00:22:17,440 --> 00:22:24,900
So again, you know, I remember we were talking about cicadas recently and how they are also

293
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seen as something purveying the afterlife.

294
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So like that immortality and whatnot.

295
00:22:30,480 --> 00:22:36,760
So it's really interesting that we see in mythology and folklore that these inverts

296
00:22:36,760 --> 00:22:40,360
and these insects are seen in that way.

297
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And so I could probably dig deeper into the folklore and kind of find out exactly where

298
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that comes from or like what the stories are behind it.

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I just didn't do that just because I needed to make sure I got all the information that

300
00:22:56,000 --> 00:23:03,160
I needed to get kind of that basic all around information on dragonflies.

301
00:23:03,160 --> 00:23:09,080
But of course, another episode we can touch and do that deep dive into the folklore of

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00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:10,880
these amazing creatures.

303
00:23:10,880 --> 00:23:11,880
Right.

304
00:23:11,880 --> 00:23:12,880
Okay.

305
00:23:12,880 --> 00:23:19,120
So in the Native American cultures, they are viewed as messengers between the living and

306
00:23:19,120 --> 00:23:20,120
the spirit world.

307
00:23:20,120 --> 00:23:25,320
So essentially, they're seen as a symbol of transformation and renewal.

308
00:23:25,320 --> 00:23:32,120
And due to the metamorphosis that dragonflies go through from water dwelling nymphs to airborne

309
00:23:32,120 --> 00:23:39,600
adults, they are also seen as renewal of life and immortality of the soul.

310
00:23:39,600 --> 00:23:45,440
So again, another one of those spirit world connection, right?

311
00:23:45,440 --> 00:23:50,360
The connection, they also in Native American folklore are believed to have a connection

312
00:23:50,360 --> 00:23:52,880
to dreams and illusions.

313
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So the iridescent wings and their bodies are often viewed as symbols of life's illusions

314
00:24:02,320 --> 00:24:13,480
and the importance of seeing beyond the illusions of life to the real truth of the matter, essentially.

315
00:24:13,480 --> 00:24:18,320
And they also represent winding journey of self discovery.

316
00:24:18,320 --> 00:24:21,600
So they are believed to be the souls of deceased.

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00:24:21,600 --> 00:24:28,440
Let's see, dreaming of the life that they once had here on in the living world.

318
00:24:28,440 --> 00:24:29,640
Okay.

319
00:24:29,640 --> 00:24:34,120
And also a symbol of happiness, speed and purity.

320
00:24:34,120 --> 00:24:37,480
Their speed and purity represent new beginnings.

321
00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:47,600
So all around kind of like that interesting spiritual connection between dragonflies and

322
00:24:47,600 --> 00:24:49,820
human folklore, obviously.

323
00:24:49,820 --> 00:24:58,380
So in Native American cultures, a lot of them are seen to be those messengers or a person

324
00:24:58,380 --> 00:25:00,540
who has already passed on.

325
00:25:00,540 --> 00:25:02,680
They are dreaming of the life that they once had.

326
00:25:02,680 --> 00:25:09,600
So it's very interesting that we, you know, humans kind of see them in that light.

327
00:25:09,600 --> 00:25:14,360
And then yeah, the new beginnings and that metamorphosis of a self discovery.

328
00:25:14,360 --> 00:25:20,600
I definitely, I honestly, this one is not super hard to kind of figure out where that

329
00:25:20,600 --> 00:25:24,200
comes from just because life is a journey.

330
00:25:24,200 --> 00:25:28,560
As Sheryl Crow said, every day is a winding road.

331
00:25:28,560 --> 00:25:33,640
And if you traverse your life and stuff, you're going to learn a lot of stuff about yourself.

332
00:25:33,640 --> 00:25:34,640
You're going to be challenged.

333
00:25:34,640 --> 00:25:38,800
You're going to have to make choices and decisions.

334
00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:45,380
Some of us are challenged in ways like with me, I'm challenged with mental health.

335
00:25:45,380 --> 00:25:51,160
So that means that when I wake up in the morning, I essentially, like some days are really worse

336
00:25:51,160 --> 00:25:55,000
than others and some days are really easy.

337
00:25:55,000 --> 00:26:00,280
And for me, when those hard days come, that's that choice that I'm faced with.

338
00:26:00,280 --> 00:26:04,600
It's a challenge to say, okay, am I going to let the depression win and just stay in

339
00:26:04,600 --> 00:26:08,840
bed all day or, you know, do nothing, right?

340
00:26:08,840 --> 00:26:18,640
Or am I going to be brave and do what I can to like push that demon away, right?

341
00:26:18,640 --> 00:26:21,680
And so it definitely is that metamorphosis.

342
00:26:21,680 --> 00:26:28,800
So as the dragonfly is, you know, changing through its nymphal stage over time, so are

343
00:26:28,800 --> 00:26:29,800
we.

344
00:26:29,800 --> 00:26:31,680
We are changing over time all the time.

345
00:26:31,680 --> 00:26:35,920
So definitely self discovery is pretty apparent on that one.

346
00:26:35,920 --> 00:26:36,920
All right.

347
00:26:36,920 --> 00:26:39,880
Let's move on to the European folklore.

348
00:26:39,880 --> 00:26:45,920
So we've got European folklore and a lot of it actually comes from, and I'm kind of sad

349
00:26:45,920 --> 00:26:50,120
that Simon isn't here to talk about this with me because, you know, he's right there.

350
00:26:50,120 --> 00:27:00,640
But a lot of it comes from the Celtic cultures and people from that time, which I'm very

351
00:27:00,640 --> 00:27:01,640
Irish.

352
00:27:01,640 --> 00:27:03,320
So this ring's true for me.

353
00:27:03,320 --> 00:27:04,320
It's pretty awesome.

354
00:27:04,320 --> 00:27:07,640
In any case, here we go.

355
00:27:07,640 --> 00:27:12,760
So in European folklore, dragonflies are actually seen a little differently.

356
00:27:12,760 --> 00:27:19,160
They're associated with the devil and death, but there's that death and passing and the

357
00:27:19,160 --> 00:27:20,160
afterlife.

358
00:27:20,160 --> 00:27:25,600
So there's that kind of theme coming again.

359
00:27:25,600 --> 00:27:32,960
They are particularly associated with the devil through the Scandinavian culture and

360
00:27:32,960 --> 00:27:35,680
Eastern European.

361
00:27:35,680 --> 00:27:38,880
So obviously not Celtic cultures.

362
00:27:38,880 --> 00:27:46,240
They are sometimes called devils, devil's darning needles, or the devil's horses, which

363
00:27:46,240 --> 00:27:49,080
is again, really fascinating.

364
00:27:49,080 --> 00:27:50,640
That they are associated with devils.

365
00:27:50,640 --> 00:27:53,480
I'm not really sure where that one came from.

366
00:27:53,480 --> 00:28:00,120
So that might be that deep dive episode that we get into for dragonflies and why their

367
00:28:00,120 --> 00:28:02,680
mythology is the way it is.

368
00:28:02,680 --> 00:28:03,680
Right.

369
00:28:03,680 --> 00:28:04,680
Okay.

370
00:28:04,680 --> 00:28:10,440
So they were also believed in, and this is again, that Eastern European folklore and

371
00:28:10,440 --> 00:28:16,760
legends that they were believed to stow up the eyes, ears or mouths of misbehaving children

372
00:28:16,760 --> 00:28:19,320
while they were asleep.

373
00:28:19,320 --> 00:28:27,320
So that's kind of spooky, but I kind of get it just because dragonflies do have that really

374
00:28:27,320 --> 00:28:30,560
skinny long body shape.

375
00:28:30,560 --> 00:28:36,400
And of course their mouth parts are, you know, we'll see.

376
00:28:36,400 --> 00:28:37,720
I don't know.

377
00:28:37,720 --> 00:28:43,040
But they also seem to have a connection to the fairy world.

378
00:28:43,040 --> 00:28:46,600
Now we're getting into the Celtic folklore on this one.

379
00:28:46,600 --> 00:28:52,400
So connection to the fairy world, the Celtic regions of Europe, there's a link between

380
00:28:52,400 --> 00:28:55,720
the human and the magical realm of fairies.

381
00:28:55,720 --> 00:29:01,760
And they are regarded as signs of the fairy encounters.

382
00:29:01,760 --> 00:29:10,800
Irish folklore also tells us of little people who ride on dragonflies as horses and to travel

383
00:29:10,800 --> 00:29:13,760
quickly like a blink of an eye.

384
00:29:13,760 --> 00:29:17,120
And we did talk about the speed of the dragonfly, 18 miles an hour.

385
00:29:17,120 --> 00:29:22,560
They are indeed one of the very fastest insects in the world.

386
00:29:22,560 --> 00:29:23,560
Okay.

387
00:29:23,560 --> 00:29:30,680
But yeah, so they use dragonflies as horses to travel quickly throughout the world.

388
00:29:30,680 --> 00:29:39,120
And some stories actually imply that the dragonfly is the fairy itself in disguise and can only

389
00:29:39,120 --> 00:29:41,440
be seen from like a certain angle.

390
00:29:41,440 --> 00:29:45,480
So you have to be able to look at that dragonfly at the right angle and then you'd be able

391
00:29:45,480 --> 00:29:47,160
to see the fairy.

392
00:29:47,160 --> 00:29:52,440
I have actually seen some very interesting documentaries about people who still believe

393
00:29:52,440 --> 00:29:59,920
in fairies today in Ireland and probably parts of England and Scotland.

394
00:29:59,920 --> 00:30:07,920
But in any case, they do actually believe that fairies exist and that they see them.

395
00:30:07,920 --> 00:30:13,760
And they did talk about dragonflies being fairies that are just traveling through our

396
00:30:13,760 --> 00:30:15,840
world in disguise.

397
00:30:15,840 --> 00:30:24,440
So it's kind of fascinating that the Celtic leaves kind of put dragonflies with fairies.

398
00:30:24,440 --> 00:30:32,560
I know that there is a lot of artwork that depicts dragonflies alongside of fairies,

399
00:30:32,560 --> 00:30:35,400
that kind of thing, the fae.

400
00:30:35,400 --> 00:30:40,840
So in a lot of pop culture, like television shows and stuff, there is definitely a connection

401
00:30:40,840 --> 00:30:43,860
between fairies and dragonflies.

402
00:30:43,860 --> 00:30:46,400
One that comes to mind would be Fern Gully.

403
00:30:46,400 --> 00:30:56,520
There was this wonderful animated movie back in, I want to say the mid 80s, maybe late

404
00:30:56,520 --> 00:30:57,760
80s or so.

405
00:30:57,760 --> 00:31:00,920
All I know is I loved this movie as a kid.

406
00:31:00,920 --> 00:31:09,040
And in any case, they actually depicted dragonflies for the fairies that were riding on it.

407
00:31:09,040 --> 00:31:10,640
So that kind of makes sense.

408
00:31:10,640 --> 00:31:11,640
There you go.

409
00:31:11,640 --> 00:31:16,720
Pop culture definitely follows that folklore.

410
00:31:16,720 --> 00:31:20,520
So dragonflies are seen as messengers.

411
00:31:20,520 --> 00:31:27,120
They're seen as the carriers of the deceased spirits into the afterlife.

412
00:31:27,120 --> 00:31:31,680
They're seen as devils and fairies.

413
00:31:31,680 --> 00:31:33,080
And they're also seen as good omens.

414
00:31:33,080 --> 00:31:37,640
Some of them they're seen, you know, this is a positive thing.

415
00:31:37,640 --> 00:31:43,260
Like they're given that harmonious kind of view and these kinds of things.

416
00:31:43,260 --> 00:31:46,520
So that's really fascinating.

417
00:31:46,520 --> 00:31:50,720
But that is all I have for today about dragonflies.

418
00:31:50,720 --> 00:31:54,680
Yeah, thank you guys so much for being here.

419
00:31:54,680 --> 00:31:59,600
Listen, if you have other really cool stories about dragonflies, if there's something that

420
00:31:59,600 --> 00:32:05,880
I missed about these incredible creatures, please feel free to join my discord and tell

421
00:32:05,880 --> 00:32:07,440
me all about it.

422
00:32:07,440 --> 00:32:12,960
Either that or you can find us on the Facebook page and you can tell me about it there.

423
00:32:12,960 --> 00:32:14,840
Either way, I check them daily.

424
00:32:14,840 --> 00:32:16,600
I'm in discord constantly.

425
00:32:16,600 --> 00:32:20,920
So yeah, yeah, check it out all the time.

426
00:32:20,920 --> 00:32:23,200
And I'm always there.

427
00:32:23,200 --> 00:32:30,940
So again, we are also on like most of the audio streaming platforms.

428
00:32:30,940 --> 00:32:36,880
So if you can't watch us live or if you can't, you know, if you just don't like YouTube,

429
00:32:36,880 --> 00:32:41,920
whatever it is, you can find us on I believe Amazon music.

430
00:32:41,920 --> 00:32:49,960
You can find us on Spotify and a whole plethora of others, including iHeartRadio.

431
00:32:49,960 --> 00:32:54,960
And if you're really, really into tarantulas, you can find me at Tarantula.

432
00:32:54,960 --> 00:33:01,200
I have a couple of rehousing that I'm going to be doing, which of course I of course keep

433
00:33:01,200 --> 00:33:03,120
those species spotlights.

434
00:33:03,120 --> 00:33:07,760
So check that out because I love to include all kinds of really beneficial, really great

435
00:33:07,760 --> 00:33:13,880
information on species, you know, specific species, of course.

436
00:33:13,880 --> 00:33:16,320
And I've been doing a lot of diamond art.

437
00:33:16,320 --> 00:33:22,240
So I love diamond art or I don't know how they call it, what they call it, but diamond

438
00:33:22,240 --> 00:33:23,920
art is fascinating to me.

439
00:33:23,920 --> 00:33:25,760
It really helps to soothe me.

440
00:33:25,760 --> 00:33:30,480
And I really enjoy making these pieces of art through diamond art.

441
00:33:30,480 --> 00:33:37,480
So I will, I can and will take commissions if there's something that you want me to make

442
00:33:37,480 --> 00:33:38,720
as far as diamond art.

443
00:33:38,720 --> 00:33:39,920
I can do that.

444
00:33:39,920 --> 00:33:41,640
Just let me know.

445
00:33:41,640 --> 00:33:45,440
And then we'll discuss all that stuff.

446
00:33:45,440 --> 00:33:48,400
Yeah, as always have fun, Simon.

447
00:33:48,400 --> 00:33:54,800
I hope the great ant expedition is going well for him.

448
00:33:54,800 --> 00:33:58,400
I'm hoping that he sees and gets a whole bunch of cool inverts.

449
00:33:58,400 --> 00:34:01,120
I hope Lily gets another versicolor.

450
00:34:01,120 --> 00:34:08,400
I know that she recently lost her carabina versicolor, so really sad about that.

451
00:34:08,400 --> 00:34:13,680
But yeah, I hope she gets another like two or three because that's just how we do.

452
00:34:13,680 --> 00:34:21,000
And of course, thank you guys again so much for being here and for putting in those comments.

453
00:34:21,000 --> 00:34:22,520
Go check out the Mantis Garden.

454
00:34:22,520 --> 00:34:27,640
I'm sure he's going to post a really cool video about his expedition today.

455
00:34:27,640 --> 00:34:30,140
But yeah, and thanks for listening.

456
00:34:30,140 --> 00:34:44,680
We will see you guys next week.