Eight-spotted skimmer, a fire-breathing dragonfly?

Behold, the eight-spotted skimmer.  A largish dragonfly with the scientific name Libellula forensis.  But imagine, if you will, that it was no ordinary dragonfly, but rather a fire-breathing dragonfly.  After all, we think of dragons as being mythical fire-breathing entities, so why not with this insect?  Imagine how amazing that would be.

The first thing would be to domesticate them and train them to only breathe fire upon command.  They would lay in wait upon a household perch, preferably outdoors, waiting for a rogue insect to come into its territory.  Then, in an instant, it would spring into action and come up behind its prey, much as a fighter pilot would pursue an enemy from behind.  Then, instead of firing guns or missiles, a bright ball of flame would be emitted from its mouth, causing its quarry to disintegrate upon contact.

From the safety of your house or patio, you would witness small bursts of light, not so different from fireflies, but far more deadly.  With every flash you know another enemy mosquito or pest would be turning to ash almost instantaneously.  It may even inspire you to move to a mosquito-infested region just to enjoy the resulting fireworks.

These domesticated fire-breathing assassins could be trained in other ways too.  Imagine how cool it would be to snap your fingers and have the insect fly from your hat where it rests and light up your cigarette or cigar.  Not the healthiest idea perhaps, so maybe lighting that campfire or stove would be a better use of the creatures' unique abilities.  

Instead of dragonfly or firefly, the term dragon-firefly could be used.  They wouldn't have to toast all prey, after all they are carnivores and would need to eat.  Perhaps they prefer their prey medium or well done and would choose to torch such creatures on their own volition.  Either way, it would reduce the number of pests and improve your surroundings.

I was fortunate to find one the other day and photograph it both with (below) and without (above) the fire being shot from its mouth.  Rest assured, no insects were harmed in the capturing of these photos.  I only ever photograph nice dragon-fireflies.

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com