Orange-winged dropwing
The orange-winged dropwing is a bright scarlet dragonfly with a big reddish amber patch at the base of its clear wings. It loves to sit on sunny rocks and boulders in riverbeds. The female looks similar, but her colours are duller.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
It comes from tropical Africa, but since 2003 it has been moving into Europe as the weather gets warmer.
It now lays its eggs and raises young in Spain, Portugal and France.
The male's hind wing is about 2.4 to 2.7 centimetres long.
It lays its eggs in marshes, ponds and lakes.
Most asked questions about Orange-winged dropwing
?Where does the orange-winged dropwing live?
In most of Africa, and also in southern Europe, Arabia and South Asia.
?Is the orange-winged dropwing dangerous?
No. Dragonflies cannot sting and are harmless to people.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Trithemis kirbyi
- Group
- Dragonflies and damselflies
- Family
- Libellulidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Odonata > Libellulidae
- Lives on
- Africa, Europe, Asia
- Also known as
- Kirby's dropwing, Scarlet rock glider
Where the facts come from
- Trithemis kirbyi (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 Hans Hillewaert. 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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