From Wikimalia
| The Bug Collection
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| Aetherium Dragonfly
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| Habitat: | Inland lakes of temperate zones.
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| Description: | Extremely fast in flight, interspersed with eye-blurring darting movements, the colorful details of this dual-winged insect are difficult to discern until it lights. Metallic pale blue chitin with sanguine speckles glorify the three-thum-long slender body, and its slightly thicker posterior segment is often a metallic navy blue coated in short white bristles. Most striking is that the insect's coloration changes dramatically depending upon the source of light. Above notes refer to daylight coloration schemes, but in moonlight, they almost appear to glow in phosphorescent powder blues with pale pink speckles, and their nocturnal wings appear white, while the tail bristles do genuinely emit light of a pale yellow, marking their flight path in a dazzling display.
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| Notes: | Their diet consists of insect larvae, chiefly mosquitoes and other water-borne insects, so their relationship with humanoid society is beneficial. They are capable of remarkable flighted speeds, exceeding tens of grans per toll. Aerial agility is their hallmark, but their mating flight ritual is conversely quite slow and ballet-like, with virtually no contact between male and female beyond the few seconds in which copulation occurs.
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These are a rare collector's treat, owing less to their rarity than to the excessive difficulty in obtaining undamaged specimens. Their bodies, and particularly their wings, are very fragile, and susceptible to dehydration under typical collecting conditions. Often, special containers are employed beyond traditional butterfly nets. Some museums maintain special humidor collection display cases to insure specimen integrity.
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