Black-faced percher
Diplacodes melanopsis
Name means: “black face”
The black-faced percher is a small dragonfly from Australia. A grown-up male has a shiny black face and a bright red tail with black marks. The female looks quite different, in amber and yellow with black markings.
Lives in
South-eastern Australia, from around Brisbane to the border of South Australia and Victoria
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. Dragonflies have no sting, so you can just enjoy watching it fly.
What does it eat?
It catches small flying insects in the air. Its babies live in the water and hunt tiny water animals.
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)
Black-faced percher about 40 km/h (25 mph)
A car driving in town about 50 km/h (31 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
Its scientific name, melanopsis, comes from Greek words meaning black face.
2
Males and females have such different colours that you might think they are two different dragonflies.
3
It lives only on the Australian mainland.
you asked
Most asked questions about Black-faced percher
?Is the black-faced percher dangerous?
No. Dragonflies cannot sting and are harmless to people.
?Where does the black-faced percher live?
In south-eastern Australia, from around Brisbane down to the border of South Australia and Victoria.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Diplacodes melanopsis
- Group
- Dragonflies and damselflies
- Family
- Libellulidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Odonata > Libellulidae
- Lives on
- Australia and Oceania
- Also known as
- Blackfaced percher
Where the facts come from
- Diplacodes melanopsis (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 AusDigi. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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