I was walking home from the lab, when I saw this utterly motionless dragonfly perched on a signpost. I looked at it closely, and there seemed to be something unusual about it –the back of its head was gone, with a sharp boundary at the eyes. It looked like it had been surgically snipped out, but that seemed so improbably, I thought it had to be some kind of illusion.
Then I touched it and it flew away.
I keep telling everyone, in case of a zombie insect invasion, they have a ventral nerve cord, so aim for the throat, not the top of the head.
It’s obviously a government surveillance cyborg. They’re on to you. Seriously though, I looked at some of my dragonfly photos, and it seems to be normal, just sitting with its head tilted down. I think those giant eyes seen from behind make it look like the head is hollow
Brain and brain, what is brain?
Definitely not an illusion. Just their freaky eye-heads.
https://preview.tinyurl.com/y3374je7
A few more examples, including the possibly-even-more ridiculous bulgy-eye damselfly head:
https://imgur.com/a/5ROa5pD
Betteridge’s Law of headlines triumphs again. The answer is no. :-)
Risky click link for sure – kept my lunch.
This is normal. Dragonfly heads are weird in several ways. This ‘dragon’ is commonly known as the blue dasher (Pachydiplax longipennis).
Carrying a macro-lens around does this to ‘ya. You start seeing strange new things. Wondering. Asking questions.