The dragonfly does not announce itself. It waits.
En un mundo acelerado donde la mirada rara vez se detiene, La Vanguardia propone un ejercicio de atención: encontrar una libélula macho camuflada en tres fotografías en apenas treinta segundos. El reto, segundo de una serie colaborativa llamada Retos de los Lectores, nació de la observación paciente de un lector en los campos de Altet, en el Urgell. Es, en el fondo, una invitación a redescubrir que mirar bien es un arte que se practica.
- El camuflaje de la libélula Orthetrum coerulescens es tan eficaz que incluso un ojo atento puede recorrer la imagen entera sin encontrarla.
- El contador de treinta segundos convierte una contemplación tranquila en una prueba de reflejos y concentración.
- Para quienes fracasan en el intento, el periódico ofrece fotografías de acercamiento como andamiaje, no como rendición.
- La revelación final —la libélula marcada sobre la imagen— es a la vez victoria para unos y lección silenciosa para otros.
- La Vanguardia transforma el juego en comunidad: cualquier lector puede enviar su propio reto visual a participacion@lavanguardia.es y convertirse en autor.
La Vanguardia ha lanzado la segunda entrega de sus Retos de los Lectores, una sección que desafía a la audiencia a localizar una libélula macho de la especie Orthetrum coerulescens escondida en tres fotografías casi idénticas, tomadas por un lector cerca de Altet, en el Urgell. El participante dispone de treinta segundos. La repetición de las imágenes es deliberada: si el insecto aparece en una, debería poder encontrarse en las demás. Pero el camuflaje de la libélula frustra esa lógica con elegancia.
La primera entrega de la serie presentó una hembra de la misma especie en el mismo entorno, estableciendo el formato y generando la participación suficiente para justificar una continuación. El paso de hembra a macho sugiere una progresión pensada: familiarizar al lector con la especie sin reducir la dificultad.
Quienes no logren encontrarla a tiempo pueden recurrir a dos fotografías de detalle que acercan la zona relevante. Aun así, la tarea exige paciencia. Cuando el tiempo se agota, el periódico revela la solución marcando directamente la posición de la libélula, un momento que resulta satisfactorio para quien acertó y revelador para quien no.
Más allá del juego, la sección funciona como espacio de creación colectiva. La Vanguardia invita a cualquier lector con un reto visual propio a enviarlo a participacion@lavanguardia.es, con fotografías, vídeo e información del autor, bajo el asunto 'Retos de los Lectores'. La audiencia deja de ser espectadora para convertirse en coautora de la experiencia.
La Vanguardia has launched the second round of its Reader Challenges, a recurring feature that invites the newspaper's audience to test their observation skills against carefully constructed visual puzzles. This time, the challenge centers on a male dragonfly of the species Orthetrum coerulescens—a small, elusive creature that a reader-contributor photographed near the town of Altet in the Urgell region.
The setup is straightforward but deceptively difficult. Participants are given thirty seconds to locate the dragonfly hidden somewhere within three nearly identical photographs. The repetition is intentional: if you can spot the insect in one image, the theory goes, you should be able to find it in the others. But camouflage is the dragonfly's gift, and the challenge exploits that perfectly. The creature blends into its surroundings with such effectiveness that even a careful eye can miss it entirely.
This puzzle represents the second installment in an ongoing series. Weeks earlier, La Vanguardia posed a similar challenge featuring a female of the same species, also discovered near Altet. That earlier puzzle established the format and drew enough engagement to warrant a sequel. The progression from female to male specimen suggests a deliberate design—building familiarity with the species while maintaining the difficulty level that keeps readers coming back.
For those who struggle to find the dragonfly within the time limit, the newspaper offers hints: two additional, more detailed photographs that zoom in on the relevant area. These are meant as scaffolding, not solutions. Even with guidance, the task requires patience and a willingness to examine every corner of the frame. The dragonfly does not announce itself. It waits.
Once the thirty seconds expire, La Vanguardia reveals the answer by marking the dragonfly's location directly on the original images. This moment—the reveal—serves a dual purpose. For those who succeeded, it confirms their victory. For those who did not, it shows exactly where their attention failed to reach. There is something both satisfying and humbling about seeing the solution after searching in vain.
Beyond the puzzle itself, La Vanguardia uses these challenges as a mechanism for community building. The newspaper actively solicits submissions from readers who have their own visual puzzles to propose. Anyone interested in contributing can send materials to participacion@lavanguardia.es, including photographs, video, and author information, with the subject line clearly marked as 'Retos de los Lectores'—Reader Challenges. This transforms the feature from a one-way entertainment product into a collaborative space where the audience becomes the creator.
The dragonfly challenge, then, is more than a simple game. It is an invitation to slow down, to look carefully at the world, and to share that looking with others. It acknowledges that observation is a skill worth practicing, and that the small creatures we encounter—a dragonfly resting on a stem, camouflaged against the landscape—deserve our attention. The challenge persists as long as readers keep submitting, and as long as La Vanguardia keeps publishing them.
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why a dragonfly? Why not something more obvious, like a bird or a butterfly?
The dragonfly's camouflage is its entire survival strategy. It doesn't want to be seen. That's what makes it a perfect puzzle—you're fighting against millions of years of evolution.
So the challenge isn't really about vision, then. It's about patience.
Partly, yes. But it's also about understanding how the dragonfly uses its environment. Once you know what to look for—the angle of the wings, the way the body aligns with the stem—your eye starts to work differently.
The fact that this is the second puzzle about the same species seems deliberate.
It is. The first one teaches you what a female Orthetrum coerulescens looks like. The second one asks if you can recognize the male. It's building knowledge while maintaining the difficulty.
And by inviting readers to submit their own challenges, La Vanguardia is essentially crowdsourcing content.
True, but it's more generous than that. They're saying: your observations matter. Your ability to see something hidden in plain sight—that's worth sharing with thousands of people.
What happens to someone who fails the thirty-second test?
They get the hints, they see the answer, and they learn something about how they look at the world. That's not failure. That's data.