Violet dropwing
The violet dropwing is a dragonfly the colour of a ripe plum. The boy is pinky violet with red veins in his wings, and the girl is yellow and brown. As soon as it lands on a twig, it drops its wings down, which is how it got its name.
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Fun facts
Both boys and girls have red eyes.
As the world gets warmer, it is moving further north into Europe.
Its babies grow up so fast that it can even lay eggs in puddles that dry up later.
In the evening, or when the sun hides, the boys move from the waterside into the trees.
The mum lays her eggs by dipping the tip of her tail into the water as she flies.
Most asked questions about Violet dropwing
?Why is it called a dropwing?
Because it lowers its wings straight away when it lands on a perch.
?Is the violet dropwing dangerous?
No. Dragonflies cannot sting and are harmless to people.
?Where does the violet dropwing live?
In most of Africa, the Middle East and southern Europe, near water.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Trithemis annulata
- Named by
- Palisot de Beauvois, 1807
- Group
- Dragonflies and damselflies
- Family
- Libellulidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Odonata > Libellulidae
- Lives on
- Africa, Asia, Europe
- Also known as
- Violet-marked darter, Purple-blushed darter, Plum-coloured dropwing
Where the facts come from
- Trithemis annulata (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 Charles J. Sharp. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same 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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