Editing Dragonfly (section)

==== Motion camouflage ====

{{Further|Motion camouflage}}

[[File:Motion Camouflage Principle.svg|thumb|upright=1.5|The principle of [[motion camouflage]] as used by fighting dragonflies ]]

In high-speed territorial battles between male [[Australian emperor]]s (''Hemianax papuensis''), the fighting dragonflies adjust their flight paths to appear stationary to their rivals, minimizing the chance of being detected as they approach.{{efn|This is not to say that other species may not use the same technique, only that this species has been studied.}}<ref name="NatureNews">{{cite journal | url=http://www.nature.com/news/2003/030605/full/news030602-10.html | title=Nature News | publisher=Nature.com | journal=Dragonfly Flight Tricks the Eye | date=June 5, 2003 | access-date=January 16, 2012 | author=Hopkin, Michael| doi=10.1038/news030602-10 }}</ref><ref name="Mizutani">{{cite journal |last1=Mizutani |first1=A. K. |last2=Chahl |first2=J. S. |last3=Srinivasan |first3=M. V. | date=June 5, 2003 | title=Insect behaviour: Motion camouflage in dragonflies | journal=Nature | volume=65 | issue=423 | pages=604 | doi=10.1038/423604a| pmid=12789327 | bibcode=2003Natur.423..604M | s2cid=52871328 | doi-access=free }}</ref> To achieve the effect, the attacking dragonfly flies towards his rival, choosing his path to remain on a line between the rival and the start of his attack path. The attacker thus [[looming|looms]] larger as he closes on the rival, but does not otherwise appear to move. Researchers found that six of 15 encounters involved [[motion camouflage]].<ref name="Glendinning">{{cite journal | date=27 January 2004 | author=Glendinning, Paul | title=The mathematics of motion camouflage | journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences | pmc=1691618 | pmid=15129957 | doi=10.1098/rspb.2003.2622 | volume=271 |issue = 1538| pages=477–81}}</ref>