Hagenius brevistylus
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The dragonhunter (Hagenius brevistylus) is a clubtail dragonfly of the eastern United States and southeastern Canada. The dragonfly is much larger than any other North American clubtail, at 3.3 inches (84 mm), with black and yellow markings and green eyes. Males can be distinguished at a distance by their habit of curling their abdomens under while flying, forming a sideways J shape.
The dragonhunter is the only member of genus Hagenius. Its closest relatives are Asian dragonflies of genus Sieboldius, which are also sometimes called "dragonhunters". Together, the two genera form the subfamily Hageniinae.
The nymph is unusual, with a very flat, wide body. It is slow-moving and lives among bark and leaf litter at the edges of streams, where its dark color provides camouflage. The adult feeds on large insects, including darner and clubtail dragonflies, sometimes ambushing them from above. It also takes monarch butterflies, eating the thorax and abdomen first to avoid the greatest concentration of cardenolide toxins.
The genus name Hagenius was coined by Edmond de Sélys Longchamps in 1854 in honor of his collaborator and fellow entomologist Hermann August Hagen. The... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Voyageurs National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Congaree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Great Smoky Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Shenandoah National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Acadia National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Baltimore | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Austin | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Washington | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Dragonhunter sighting in Shenandoah National Park on a given day, based on 7 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 447th most-seen of the 723 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June and July
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Dragonhunter in Shenandoah National Park on a given day, against under 5% in August to May, the lowest months.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Dragonhunter sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
4th of 5
Of the 5 parks where we can rate Dragonhunter sightings, Shenandoah National Park ranks 4th at about 10%. The best odds are in Voyageurs National Park (United States, about 30%), Congaree National Park (United States, about 10%) and Great Smoky Mountains National Park (United States, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Dragonhunter is recorded against all the insects logged in Shenandoah National Park (7 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
