Petalura gigantea Leach, 1815 SOUTH-EASTERN PETALTAIL Family Austropetaliidae
On a trip to a national park in NE NSW Australia, my husband asked if I’d like to stop at a rather dry looking swamp we were passing. I thought I might as well have a look even though it didn’t look like there was any dragonfly activity there. I wandered down to a part that looked a bit wetter and flushed a huge dragonfly but didn’t get any photos. Did a lot more searching and as I was about to give up and head back to the car when I noticed 2 huge dragonflies chasing each other about in the sky. Luckily when they separated one came towards me and landed. I felt like I was in a dream when I realised it was a PETALTAIL DRAGONFLY – Petalura gigantea. A most exciting find as it is an endangered dragonfly. I really didn’t think I would ever see one of these dragonflies so it was a very special day.
These are very interesting dragonflies as the larvae dig tunnels in which they live for many years. It is not known how many years they live in the tunnels before they emerge as adults but it is suspected to be as long as 10 years!
Petalura gigantea are one of the largest dragonflies found in Australia.