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Sticker of Flag-tailed spinyleg
Bug card No. 1683 of 4,939

Flag-tailed spinyleg

Dromogomphus spoliatus
Eats: Other bugs and small animalsDragonflies and damselfliesPonds, rivers and shores6 legs

The flag-tailed spinyleg is a dragonfly from North America. It belongs to the clubtails, dragonflies whose tail gets wider near the end like a little club. Like all dragonflies, it is a great flyer and hunter.

Lives in
North America, near water
Top speed
about 40 km/h (25 mph)
Flying, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. Dragonflies have no sting, so you can just watch it fly.
What does it eat?
It catches other flying insects in the air, like other dragonflies.
For real!Photo of Flag-tailed spinyleg
Picture by pondhawk. CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

It is a clubtail. Many clubtails have a tail that is wider near the tip.

2

Experts checked on it in 2017 and found that there are plenty of them and their numbers are steady.

3

It lives in North America.

you asked

Most asked questions about Flag-tailed spinyleg

?Is the flag-tailed spinyleg dangerous?

No. Dragonflies have no sting and are harmless to people.

?Is the flag-tailed spinyleg rare?

No. Experts say there are plenty of them and they are not in danger.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Dromogomphus spoliatus
Group
Dragonflies and damselflies
Family
Gomphidae
Classification
Insecta > Odonata > Gomphidae
Lives on
North America

Where the facts come from

  1. Dromogomphus spoliatus (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 pondhawk. CC BY 2.0, 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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