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Sticker of Blue riverdamsel
Bug card No. 0542 of 4,939

Blue riverdamsel

Pseudagrion microcephalum
Name means: “microcephalum means small head”

The blue riverdamsel is a slim damselfly in bright sky blue and black. Its pale blue eyes are dark on top, like it is wearing a little cap. It rests on plants at the edges of ponds and streams.

Lives in
India and Sri Lanka, near ponds, lakes and streams in the lowlands
Length
3.8 cm (1.5 in)
Top speed
about 10 km/h (6.2 mph)
Flying, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. Damselflies cannot sting or hurt you.
What does it eat?
Like all damselflies, it catches small insects.
For real!Photo of Blue riverdamsel
Picture by Charles J. Sharp. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Blue riverdamsel about 3.8 cm long (1.5 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)A crayon about 9 cm (3.5 in)A banana about 18 cm (7.1 in)
as long as 6 grains of rice in a rowcould fly across a whole football pitch in 38 secondsmoves 73 times its own body length every second

How big is Blue riverdamsel compared to YOU?

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How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

On its back, near the front of its tail, there is a black mark shaped like a little cup.

2

The female is bluish green with orange instead of black.

3

It only lives in the lowlands. In the nearby hills a different damselfly takes its place.

4

In 2026 scientists found that the look-alikes in Australia and the Pacific are really different species.

you asked

Most asked questions about Blue riverdamsel

?How big is the blue riverdamsel?

About 38 millimetres long, about as long as your little finger.

?Where can you see a blue riverdamsel?

In India and Sri Lanka, near ponds, lakes and streams, often resting on water plants.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Pseudagrion microcephalum
Group
Dragonflies and damselflies
Family
Coenagrionidae
Classification
Insecta > Odonata > Coenagrionidae
Lives on
Asia
Also known as
Blue sprite, Blue grass dart

Where the facts come from

  1. Blue riverdamsel (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Charles J. Sharp. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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More from the same group: Dragonflies and damselflies

Also at home here: Ponds, rivers and shores

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