American Amphitheres, known scientifically as the Draco Americanus Tex and also referred to as the moth dragon due to their habit of hunting at night. It is a true Ampithere as it is leggless and has only two wings. Hunting in packs at night, they will drive their prey of cows and buffalo over cliffs in order to more easily dispatch them. An often used tactic is intimidating prey with fire, tail strikes and high pitch shrieks that has been compared to a hoard of giant sparking bats. Though often not aggressive they make their lairs in boulder mounds or caves in the sides of sandstone valleys.
General Description[]
Classic colors of Draco americanus tex
Draco Americanus Tex grow to be 15 feet long, and 8 to 10 feet high with an iridescent top and a bright colored belly. Often green, purple, grey, or red their bellies and eyes are always a bright orange-yellow. They are covered in soft scales and scraggly feathers that are often mistaken for fur. These coverings break up their silhouette in the sky that can attribute to their claim to a "Moth-Like" Appearance.
Their eggs are green with paler green markings. Young of this species are able to fly instantly after being born, different than their cousin, the Mexican Amphithere as they have to remain in their nest for three years. The young American Amphitheres, however, are not as good flyers as the adults of their species who are even able to hover by beating their wings extremely fast.[1]
Safety in Numbers[]
These flying serpents are one of the few dragons that have adapted a true flocking behavior. Unlike some species who only flock at certain times -like the migration of the Frost Dragon- "Moth Dragons" live communally in groups of 50 or more.
Solitary dragons were once nearly hunted to extinction by the various tribes of the North American Continent, their soft bellies providing skilled use of a bow and arrow.[1] If threatened adults will surround nestlings and elderly producing a literal ring of fire.
In Myth & Legend[]
A Petroglyph of a flying beast
Many of the different Native American tribes of North America have stories of dragons or similar creatures perhaps some of these stemmed from encounters with Draco americanus tex:
- The Cumash have stories of Dragons that flew over the rocky mountains
- Piasa is a bird like dragon of Illini people
- A Horned Serpent was a recurring figure among many indigenous tribes of the Southeast Woodlands.
- Serpents Mi-ni-wa-tu and Unhcegila of the Lakota peoples' mythology could fly and swim.[2]