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Sticker of Scarlet adjutant
Bug card No. 3764 of 4,939

Scarlet adjutant

Aethriamanta brevipennis
Eats: Other bugs and small animalsDragonflies and damselfliesPonds, rivers and shores6 legs

The scarlet adjutant is a small dragonfly with a bright red tail. Its see-through wings look as if they were dipped in gold at the base. It lives around ponds and lakes full of water plants in warm parts of Asia.

Lives in
South and Southeast Asia and the Solomon Islands, near weedy ponds and lakes
Top speed
about 40 km/h (25 mph)
Flying, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. Dragonflies have no sting. Just watch it fly.
What does it eat?
It catches small flying insects. Its babies live under water and hunt there.
For real!Photo of Scarlet adjutant
Picture by Charles J. Sharp. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Its eyes are dark reddish brown, and its chest is chocolate brown.

2

The girl is not red at all. She is greenish yellow instead.

3

There are two kinds of it. The other one has the funny name black-headed basker.

you asked

Most asked questions about Scarlet adjutant

?Why is the scarlet adjutant red?

Only the male has the bright red tail. The female is greenish yellow.

?Where does the scarlet adjutant live?

In South and Southeast Asia and on the Solomon Islands, near ponds and lakes.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Aethriamanta brevipennis
Named by
Rambur, 1842
Group
Dragonflies and damselflies
Family
Libellulidae
Classification
Insecta > Odonata > Libellulidae
Lives on
Asia, Australia and Oceania
Also known as
Scarlet marsh hawk

Where the facts come from

  1. Aethriamanta brevipennis (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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