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Sticker of Lucia widow
Bug card No. 2695 of 4,939

Lucia widow

Palpopleura lucia
Eats: Other bugs and small animalsDragonflies and damselfliesPonds, rivers and shores6 legs

The Lucia widow is a dragonfly from Africa. It lives near all kinds of fresh water, from rivers and lakes to swamps and springs. You can find it in more than thirty African countries.

Lives in
Africa south of the Sahara, Madagascar and the Comoros, near rivers, lakes and swamps
Top speed
about 40 km/h (25 mph)
Flying, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. Dragonflies have no sting, so you can just enjoy watching it.
What does it eat?
Like all dragonflies, it catches small flying insects in the air.
For real!Photo of Lucia widow
Picture by Charles J. Sharp. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

It lives all over Africa south of the Sahara, from Ghana to Kenya and South Africa.

2

It also lives on islands, such as Madagascar and the Comoros.

3

Besides water, it can be found in moist lowland forests and in dry bushland.

you asked

Most asked questions about Lucia widow

?Where does the Lucia widow live?

In Africa south of the Sahara and on islands like Madagascar, near rivers, lakes, marshes and springs.

?Is the Lucia widow dangerous?

No. Dragonflies have no sting and do not hurt people.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Palpopleura lucia
Group
Dragonflies and damselflies
Family
Libellulidae
Classification
Insecta > Odonata > Libellulidae
Lives on
Africa

Where the facts come from

  1. Palpopleura lucia (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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