49.1

I have a funny story about a dream I had after working on these photos. I suppose my subconscious mind was at work, knowing I wasn't quite sure what I was seeing in the photo--and it went to work as I slept, trying to make sense of it.

In the dream I looked up and was startled to see a gigantic insect, a monstrous beetle. It had a small black oblong head with a bright yellow strip on each side of its face--and instantly I realised that what I'd thought was a grasshopper in my photo was not a grasshopper at all, but was only a small section of this beetle's head. Its massive body was jet black and must have been a foot long. The beetle, which was just a few feet away, was staring straight at me, and I was trapped in a small room with the door closed with no easy escape. I looked at the beetle and it looked right back at me--perhaps ready to spring. Arrrr! Horrors!!! I woke up with a start!

These dragonflies can take quite large prey. I've seen one swoop down and carry off a grasshopper almost as large as itself.

Photo taken in the Butterfly Garden at the Norfolk Botanical Garden in Norfolk, Virginia.