Red-faced dragonlet

Erythrodiplax fusca

Eats: Other bugs and small animals Dragonflies and damselfliesPonds, rivers and shores6 legs

The red-faced dragonlet is a dragonfly from the Americas. It lives all the way from North America through Central America to South America. Like all dragonflies, it is a fast flier that catches insects in the air.

Lives in

North, Central and South America

Top speed

about 40 km/h (25 mph)

Flying, estimate

Can it hurt you?

Harmless

Harmless. Dragonflies have no sting.

What does it eat?

It catches other flying insects. Its babies live under water and hunt small water animals.

Photo of Red-faced dragonlet — Picture by Dick Culbert from Gibsons, B.C., Canada. CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How fast is it?

A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)

A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)

Red-faced dragonlet about 40 km/h (25 mph)

A car driving in town about 50 km/h (31 mph)

cool stuff

Fun facts

It is a skimmer, from the same big family as many of the dragonflies you see by ponds.

Scientists say it is of least concern, which means it is not in danger of dying out.

The number of red-faced dragonlets stays steady. Scientists last checked this in 2017.

you asked

Most asked questions about Red-faced dragonlet

?Is the red-faced dragonlet dangerous?

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

?Where does the red-faced dragonlet live?

In North, Central and South America.

For bug experts

Scientific name: Erythrodiplax fusca
Group: Dragonflies and damselflies
Family: Libellulidae
Classification: Insecta > Odonata > Libellulidae
Lives on: North America, South America

Where the facts come from

Erythrodiplax fusca (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 Dick Culbert from Gibsons, B.C., Canada. 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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