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Sticker of Southern darter
Bug card No. 4009 of 4,939

Southern darter

Sympetrum meridionale
Eats: Other bugs and small animalsDragonflies and damselfliesPonds, rivers and shores6 legs

The southern darter is a small dragonfly. The male has an orange red tail without any black spots, and the female is more yellow. Its wings are clear like glass.

Lives in
Most of southern Europe, near shallow ponds full of plants
Length
3.5 to 4 cm (1.4 to 1.6 in)
Wingspan
5.2 to 6 cm (2 to 2.4 in)
Top speed
about 33 km/h (21 mph)
Flying, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It does not sting and it is not dangerous to people.
What does it eat?
It catches small flying insects. Its babies live in the water and hunt tiny water animals.
For real!Photo of Southern darter
Picture by Hectonichus. CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Southern darter about 4 cm long (1.6 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)A crayon about 9 cm (3.5 in)A banana about 18 cm (7.1 in)

How wide are its wings?

Southern darter wings about 6 cm tip to tip (2.4 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)A crayon about 9 cm (3.5 in)A banana about 18 cm (7.1 in)
as long as 7 grains of rice in a rowwings as wide as 2 toy building brickscould fly across a whole football pitch in 11 secondsmoves 230 times its own body length every second

How big is Southern darter compared to YOU?

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How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Its babies grow up in shallow, still water with lots of plants.

2

You can see it from May until the middle of October.

3

Its whole life, from egg to grown-up, can last two or three years.

you asked

Most asked questions about Southern darter

?Is the southern darter dangerous?

No. It is a harmless little dragonfly.

?How big is the southern darter?

It is about 3.5 to 4 cm long, and its wings are about 5 to 6 cm across.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Sympetrum meridionale
Group
Dragonflies and damselflies
Family
Libellulidae
Classification
Insecta > Odonata > Libellulidae
Lives on
Europe

Where the facts come from

  1. Sympetrum meridionale (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 Hectonichus. CC BY-SA 3.0, 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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Honey jarfor grown-ups