Redtail
The redtail is a slim damselfly from Australia and the islands north of it. The grown-up males are mostly bright red. As they get older, the front part of the body turns pale green.
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Fun facts
In Australia it lives in the north, from the town of Broome in the west to the edge of Queensland in the east.
Its scientific name means rusty, because of the brownish colour on its body, legs and head.
There are many redtails, so scientists say the species is not in danger.
Its babies live under water in ponds, swamps and slow streams until they are ready to fly.
Most asked questions about Redtail
?How big is the redtail damselfly?
A male is about 45 millimetres long, and its wings measure about 5 centimetres from tip to tip.
?Where does the redtail live?
In Indonesia, New Guinea and northern Australia, near swamps, ponds and slow streams.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Ceriagrion aeruginosum
- Group
- Dragonflies and damselflies
- Family
- Coenagrionidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Odonata > Coenagrionidae
- Lives on
- Asia, Australia and Oceania
Where the facts come from
- Ceriagrion aeruginosum (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Summerdrought. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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