MUIRHEAD`S MYSTERIES: GIANT DRAGONFLIES

Hello. Today I feature a brief correspondence that appeared on the Fortean Times cryptozoology forum between myself and some others in June and July 2008 on the topic of giant dragonflies. In those days I called myself Dickydoubt_7. I now am known as Dickydevo. I have left the spelling as in the original.

Posted June 25th 2008: 'Hello! I wonder if anyone can help? I have obtained 2 reports of giant dragonflies from the United Kingdom, [one of these was from Oll Lewis; I believe Oll said it was in Wales, if my memory serves me correctly. See post by LividBullseye, below] from friends who I consider to be trustworthy. If anyone has any reports from their localities, please can they let me know on this Forum? Thank you. If I receive enough reports I will write a piece for Fortean Times.' [I never did]

gncxx: How big is giant? Like prehistoric, two-foot wingspan giant?
LividBullseye: Ask Oll Lewis he`s seen one. Find him here or on the CFZ.
nyarlathotepsub 2: I`ve seen these http://glzmodo.com/gadgets/gadgets/wowwee-dragonfly-on-sale-now-for-49-235178.php
disgruntledgoth: about the biggest I have seen had a 6 inch wing span
Dickydoubt_7: I should have said that the dragonfly seen in Oxford measured 12 inches from the tip of one wing to the other.
Peripart: I`m genuinely not being facetious or otherwise dismissive, but it wasn`t one of those radiocontrolled toy dragonflies, was it?Some of them are very lifelike (apart from their huge size) Waylander28 12 inches, that is big..

I had a dried carcass of a dragonfly, found on the sands of the lakes Blessington, (Pulaphuca Lakes to be exact) in Wicklow in Ireland. It was larger than my hand at the time, if I can remember it must have been at least 4 and a half to 5 inches long, with a similar wingspan.

I came across it just lying on the sand behind a rock, myself and my friend would not go near it until we were sure it was dead, (we threw a few stones gently around it) it was perfectly poised, full stretch, and wings splayed out to the sides. Long since been reduced to dust now! Shame it was a Rare perfect find.

R2800 In the UK? I doubt they could really get that Big honestly. What insects need to become monsters is mostly swamplike humid environments with lots of vegitation and shelter. That way there is no winter to kill them off or hinder their growth,plus the air in swamps seem to have higher Carbon content in the air itself...which seems to produce some pretty big bugs.

300 million years ago there we`re 6 foot wingspan Dragon flies and 6 foot centipedes. And if the world was still as warm as it was back then, they`d still be around.

R2800 wrote: In the UK? I doubt they could really get that Big honestly.

Waylander 28: No it was not in the UK, it was in Ireland. Regardless, they were that big, so much so that from a distance and watching them flying over head, we had mistaken them for sparrows. The body of the Dragonfly that I found was at least half 15mm at its thickest. (1)

1. Fortean Times website discussion.Giant dragonflies.June 25th 2008 to July 29th 2008.

The Cure Lullaby

I spy something beginning with s....

On candystripe legs the spiderman comes
softly through the shadow of the evening sun
stealing past the windows of the blissfully dead
looking for the victim shivering in bed
searching out fear in the gathering gloom and
suddenly!
a movement in the corner of the room!
and there is nothing I can do
when I realize with fright
that the spiderman is having me for dinner tonight!