digs burrows in the wet alpine soil

Size
Body: 6–8 cm
Lifespan
2–5 years
Diet
Larvae aquatic predators feeding on tadpoles, small fish and aquatic insects. Adults hunt flying insects including moths, flies and smaller dragonflies. Larvae ambush predators from their burrows.
Habitat
Near mountain seepages, forest swamps and damp alpine meadows. The stationary engineers of the wetlands, requiring soft, water-logged soil where they can excavate deep, permanent burrows.
Range
Throughout North and South Islands near mountain seepages, forest swamps and damp alpine meadows. Most common in upland areas of North Island and northern South Island.
Endemism
Endemic
Main Threats
Habitat loss from drainage of wetlands and mountain seepages. Water pollution. Climate change reducing water availability. Livestock grazing which damages soft, water-logged burrow habitat.
Population
While not currently threatened, highly localised. If specific water seepage dries up due to land drainage or climate change, entire local colony vanishes. Require intact, saturated wetland habitats.
Conservation Status
Not Threatened
Human Risk
harmless
Handling Note
native dragonfly, largest endemic insect leave undisturbed
Conservation Note
Endemic dragonfly; widespread in native forests and not subject to conservation assessment.
Te Ao Māori
In Māori tradition, the Kapowai is the water-clutcher or water-snatcher. The name refers to the female's behaviour of dipping her abdomen into water or soft mud to lay eggs. But also reflects the insect's status as a master of the elements. They are seen as guardians of the swampy margins (repo) where land and water blur together. The Kapowai represents Aka Matua (the parent vine/lineage). A connection to prehistoric New Zealand.
The heavyweight interceptor of the New Zealand sky. A dragonfly that spent six years underground. The giant dragonfly has a massive blueprint that makes it one of the largest dragonflies in the world. With a wingspan of up to 13 centimetres and a body length of 12 centimetres, it is a formidable aerial presence. Its body is a striking pattern of black and bold yellow spots. Providing a high-contrast warning to anything that might try to challenge it. A dragonfly that looks like a warning. Unlike modern dragonflies that are sleek and dainty, the kapowai is built with a rugged, industrial frame. Thick-set and powerful. Designed for longevity rather than just a quick summer burst. The most extraordinary part of its biology is its extreme childhood. While most insects live for weeks, the kapowai larva, or nymph, can live for up to six years underground. They dig vertical burrows up to 60 centimetres deep in saturated soil. Living in a water-filled chamber at the bottom. At night, these mud-dragons crawl to the entrance of their burrow to ambush passing insects, spiders and even small lizards. They are patient, long-term residents of the earth. Waiting half a decade for the right conditions to emerge. When the time finally comes, they crawl up a tree trunk. Shed their larval skin. And transform into the apex predator of the air. As adults, they are biological marvels of flight. Their two pairs of wings operate independently. Allowing them to hover, fly backward and reach speeds that make them nearly invisible to the human eye. Their eyes are wrap-around compound structures containing up to 30,000 individual lenses. The forest clearing is bright. The giant dragonfly hunts. Black and yellow. Wings independent. Nearly invisible. It does not know it spent six years underground. It does not know it is a prehistoric survivor. It just wants to eat a mosquito. To encounter a kapowai in a forest clearing is to meet a prehistoric survivor. The giant dragonfly is proof.