Northern banded groundling
The northern banded groundling is a small dragonfly from Africa. Its eyes look striped, and the grown-up male has dark bands across his wings. It likes slow rivers and lakes with sandy bottoms.
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Fun facts
It likes to follow big animals, and even people, to catch the insects they stir up as they walk.
Grown-up males can be dark blue or almost black, while the females are a pale buff colour.
It has moved into southern Europe. It was first seen in Portugal in 1957 and reached mainland Italy by 2015.
Where it lives, it can be the most common dragonfly of all.
Scientists used to think it was the same species as a very similar cousin.
Most asked questions about Northern banded groundling
?Why does the northern banded groundling follow people?
People and big animals stir up insects as they walk, and the dragonfly catches them.
?Does the northern banded groundling bite or sting?
No. Dragonflies have no sting, and this small one is harmless.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Brachythemis impartita
- Named by
- Karsch, 1890
- Group
- Dragonflies and damselflies
- Family
- Libellulidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Odonata > Libellulidae
- Lives on
- Africa, Europe, Asia
Where the facts come from
- Brachythemis impartita (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 gailhampshire from Cradley, Malvern, U.K. 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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