Petaltail dragonfly

The Giant Petaltail is a dragonfly found in August through October in the evening. It is called a Petaltail Dragonfly in Animal Crossing: New Leaf. It is considered a rare insect, and sells for 8,000 bells. It is dark in color, and is easily identified due to its immense size and swift flying ability, making it difficult to catch. It also can fly over cliffs, unlike other bugs. It has the largest picture of all bugs and fish in the encyclopedia.

Cutting down trees increases its abundance, as other common species will not appear without the trees. However, replacing trees is time-consuming.

In City Folk
When donated to the museum, Blathers the curator says the following;

"Hootie hoo! It's like looking at a living ancestor of today's dragonflies! A vile ancestor... It's so big that when I tell people I spotted one, no one wants to believe me. Folks claim I'm being daft. It's understandable, wot? When I look at this thing, I think I might very well BE hallucinating..."

The giant petaltail can be found on the third tier of the insect section of the museum, at the top of the ramp, with the lantern fly, fruit beetle, and scarab beetle, to name a few. During the evening hours, it can be found sitting on the sign in that section of the museum.

In New Leaf
When donated to the museum, a board in the bug exhibit will display information about this bug:

"Dragonflies very similar to petaltail dragonflies have been found in fossils from the Jurassic period. They are considered "living fossils" that haven't changed much since prehistoric times. Their wingspan is over 16 cm, making them the world's largest dragonfly."

Bug Encyclopedia Information
In Wild World and City Folk, players can access information about fish and insects in the menu. Regarding the giant petaltail -

Further Information
With a wingspan of 160mm, this giant dragonfly is tied with the Hawaiian Giant Darner (Anax strenuus) for the title of the largest dragonfly in the world. Due to lack of measurements and data, it is impossible to know the truth. Of further interest, the largest "Odonate" (Member of the dragonfly family) is somewhat ironically actually a damselfly (an insect normally known as a minituare version of a dragonfly) from Costa Rica named Megaloprepus coreulatus.

Giant Petaltails exist in North-eastern Australia in the state known as Queensland.