Petal Tail Dragonfly Advice?

[Valzed]

The Petal Tail Dragonfly is the last bug I need for my Museum. I've googled for info about it & have been following what I've found. My problem is that I have been looking every night since August 1st & have not even seen 1 single Petal Tail. I know they're super fast & hard to catch but they're impossible to catch if they never spawn at all. I'm hoping you all can give me some advice on how to get them to show up in my town. Here's what I've been following:

I've been looking between 5 - 7 PM. (I actually never see any other species dragonfly between these hours.)

I've looked near my river & ponds, on the beach and then after reading another post in a different forum I've been checking through my whole town. (Where's the best place to find them?)

I've opened my gate on my local wireless. (I've read this makes "a lot" of them appear... nope.)

I've opened my gate on the Internet. (After trying local, I did more googling & one place said I needed to be on the internet.)

I've been catching/scaring all other bugs away.

I've been doing both "Save & Continue" and going in & out of buildings.

I don't know if I'm getting old or bad info but at this point I'd just like to see the Petal Tail spawn in my town. I'll worry obsessively over catching them once I can find them. Thanks!

 

[Stackhouse]

They just appear when you least expect it.
Try not to look too hard.

I don't think any of that stuff makes them appear more, but I have found they tend to find you, on the beach.

They actually hover in front of you long enough for you to catch them.

 

[ali.di.magix]

They're not overly hard to catch, they move slower than banded dragonflies. When you see one, you surely won't miss it because it will be huge! Another way you can spawn bugs is by saving and continuing. This refreshes all the bugs. Otherwise going into a building or villagers house will also refresh the bugs. I would expand your search area as well, they don't always spawn right next to rivers. I caught one in my town the other day near my town hall, which isn't that close to my river. Maybe just walk up and down around your river a few times, then save and continue and repeat. Personally I've never seen them spawn on the beach or near it, so maybe your best bet would be ponds and rivers?

As the person above me said, it will probably come unexpectedly Good luck catching one!

 

[Valzed]

They just appear when you least expect it.
Try not to look too hard.

I don't think any of that stuff makes them appear more, but I have found they tend to find you, on the beach.

They actually hover in front of you long enough for you to catch them.

I'll try to remember to check the beach more. I wasn't too concerned about finding one until I realized I wasn't even seeing them or any other dragonflies.

- - - Post Merge - - -

They're not overly hard to catch, they move slower than banded dragonflies. When you see one, you surely won't miss it because it will be huge! Another way you can spawn bugs is by saving and continuing. This refreshes all the bugs. Otherwise going into a building or villagers house will also refresh the bugs. I would expand your search area as well, they don't always spawn right next to rivers. I caught one in my town the other day near my town hall, which isn't that close to my river. Maybe just walk up and down around your river a few times, then save and continue and repeat. Personally I've never seen them spawn on the beach or near it, so maybe your best bet would be ponds and rivers?

As the person above me said, it will probably come unexpectedly Good luck catching one!

Ooops! I meant to mention I've been saving & continuing and going in and out of buildings. I'll have to add that.

I've been checking through all through my town and still haven't seen one. I feel like I must be doing something wrong or missing some piece of info.

Thank you both for your help!

 

[Stackhouse]

I've only seen and caught ONE this august.

Behind Re-Tail near the river.

I'm tired of walking around for 2 hours every night.

 

[Valzed]

I've only seen and caught ONE this august.

Behind Re-Tail near the river.

I'm tired of walking around for 2 hours every night.

One in 19 days isn't that encouraging. I just went through something similar to this with the tarantula. (Which I haven't seen any of after I finally caught one for my Museum.) I was hoping a giant dragonfly wouldn't be as hard to find.

 

[Stackhouse]

One in 19 days isn't that encouraging. I just went through something similar to this with the tarantula. (Which I haven't seen any of after I finally caught one for my Museum.) I was hoping a giant dragonfly wouldn't be as hard to find.

Yes, and nintendo add things into the game to make you take a break, like every 45 minutes or so the villagers will tell you, you look tired.

Then they make us walk around for hours, days, and weeks, sometimes months for the tarantula, looking for one bug.

How are we meant to take a break when the game makes it so hard to find a certain bug?

 

[Iced_Holly]

I've seen and caught two without even looking for them. Sometimes you get lucky and they show up when you least expect them. I've heard they spawn more in areas with fewer trees, though I'm not sure how true that is.

 

[stitchmaker]

I've found them along the river, cliffs, beach, near ponds and sometimes in front of the train station/event plaza. A pond is on each side of my train station and near the event plaza.

Last night I found one during bug off. I was just standing in place and it appeared. Other times they've appeared while I fished along the river. I've had my gates opened for my visiting players to catch and my gates closes when I caught them in my towns.

 

[Valzed]

Yes, and nintendo add things into the game to make you take a break, like every 45 minutes or so the villagers will tell you, you look tired.

Then they make us walk around for hours, days, and weeks, sometimes months for the tarantula, looking for one bug.

How are we meant to take a break when the game makes it so hard to find a certain bug?

You're right. While tarantula hunting my villagers kept telling me to take a break. I'd love to - as soon as one of these d**n bugs spawns.

- - - Post Merge - - -

I've seen and caught two without even looking for them. Sometimes you get lucky and they show up when you least expect them. I've heard they spawn more in areas with fewer trees, though I'm not sure how true that is.

I hope they start showing up for me. I know they're available through October but after how hard it was to get the tarantula I'd like all the time I can get. I hope they don't show up where there are fewer trees. My town is full of trees.

 

[Dorian]

I usually catch them between 4:45 to 5:45 anywhere near the river. It is absolutely RANDOM when they turn up. They can spawn up river or down, there is no set number of them. And as others have mentioned, you usually catch them when you're not even looking for them. Good luck! You will get one

 

[Valzed]

I've found them along the river, cliffs, beach, near ponds and sometimes in front of the train station/event plaza. A pond is on each side of my train station and near the event plaza.

Last night I found one during bug off. I was just standing in place and it appeared. Other times they've appeared while I fished along the river. I've had my gates opened for my visiting players to catch and my gates closes when I caught them in my towns.

These bugs are very confusing sometimes. I'm not even bothering to try to catch them all with my alts. If I ever have a 2nd town I'm not hunting them all down again. It's too frustrating.

Thanks to everyone who has replied! I appreciate it!

- - - Post Merge - - -

I usually catch them between 4:45 to 5:45 anywhere near the river. It is absolutely RANDOM when they turn up. They can spawn up river or down, there is no set number of them. And as others have mentioned, you usually catch them when you're not even looking for them. Good luck! You will get one

Wait - you've caught them before 5 PM? I didn't know they could spawn before 5! Maybe I'll try looking earlier. Thank you for the help!

 

[Stackhouse]

They are from 5 pm to 7 pm.
Not before.

 

[hoodathotit]

Just yesterday, a Petaltail kept hovering very close as I was submitting a bug to Nat. The fiendish little so and so KNEW there was nothing I could do while Nat was drooling. It moved off near the town tree but, when I could break loose, it'd disappeared. No real loss since I wouldn't have given it to Nat and my museum already has one. The (expletive deleted) little hoser just wanted to mess with me.

 

[Valzed]

Just yesterday, a Petaltail kept hovering very close as I was submitting a bug to Nat. The fiendish little so and so KNEW there was nothing I could do while Nat was drooling. It moved off near the town tree but, when I could break loose, it'd disappeared. No real loss since I wouldn't have given it to Nat and my museum already has one. The (expletive deleted) little hoser just wanted to mess with me.

Oh, man! That would have made me so annoyed - especially since I need one. The bugs in this game are smarter & more spiteful than their rl counterparts. Pests.

 

[Valzed]

Woo hoo!! At 6:58 PM as I was standing near my river a Petal Tail flew in front of me & crossed the river! I ran to the other side & caught it! It's the first one I've ever seen & I was able to get it! I just gave it to Blathers. Yes!

Thank you to everyone who offered advice & support! Those who said the Petal Tail would show up when I least expected it were 100% correct. Thank you, thank you, thank you to all!

 

[Stackhouse]

Woo hoo!! At 6:58 PM as I was standing near my river a Petal Tail flew in front of me & crossed the river! I ran to the other side & caught it! It's the first one I've ever seen & I was able to get it! I just gave it to Blathers. Yes!

Thank you to everyone who offered advice & support! Those who said the Petal Tail would show up when I least expected it were 100% correct. Thank you, thank you, thank you to all!

That's awesome!

I'll try again this afternoon.

 

[Valzed]

That's awesome!

I'll try again this afternoon.

Thank you! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you! Good luck!

Wait - I just realized Blathers didn't say anything about the Bug section being complete. OH, NO - Did I miss a bug?! My catalog doesn't have any open spaces. Did I catch one & forget to donate it? *dashes off to check board outside of Museum*

 

[moonchu]

yeah gosh i agree with the whole "you find it when you're not looking" mantra for many things, especially the petal tail dragonfly. i was eagerly looking for it all day every day, and then when i finally gave up, IT SHOWED UP OF COURSE. and then every day for the entire week, i found one. so silly.

- - - Post Merge - - -

and congratulations on finally finding one!

 

[Valzed]

yeah gosh i agree with the whole "you find it when you're not looking" mantra for many things, especially the petal tail dragonfly. i was eagerly looking for it all day every day, and then when i finally gave up, IT SHOWED UP OF COURSE. and then every day for the entire week, i found one. so silly.

- - - Post Merge - - -

and congratulations on finally finding one!

Hunting for these bugs has really made me see how true that statement is. If I ever get another town & start collecting the bugs (That's a big IF) then I'm going to remember that. Thank you!

Walker Cicada - I didn't donate a Walker Cicada. I caught one. It's in my catalog. I thought I had donated all of the other bugs but the Petal Tail but I somehow didn't donate a Walker Cicada. Sigh...