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Forest Chaser Dragonfly, Taiwan, 2006

A male forest chaser dragonfly displays its gossamer wings in Taiwan. Dragonflies look enough like wasps or stinging flies to instill trepidation among humans. They've been dubbed devil's darning needles, horse stingers, and finger cutters. In fact, these aerial acrobats are harmless, neither nuisance nor danger—unless you're a mosquito.

(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Dragonflies: Strange Love," April 2006, National Geographic magazine)

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Photograph by Jozsef Szentpeteri