Eastern blacktail
Nesciothemis farinosa
The eastern blacktail is a dragonfly from Africa. It zooms over rivers, lakes and marshes on four see-through wings. It has so many names that people sometimes call it five different things.
Lives in
Much of Africa, from Egypt to South Africa, near rivers, lakes and swamps
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)
Eastern blacktail about 40 km/h (25 mph)
A car driving in town about 50 km/h (31 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
It lives in more than twenty countries across Africa.
2
It is also called the black-tailed skimmer, black-tailed dancer and common blacktail.
3
It even lives by rivers and lakes that dry up for part of the year.
4
Like all dragonflies, it starts life as a baby living under water.
you asked
Most asked questions about Eastern blacktail
?Is the eastern blacktail dangerous?
No. Dragonflies cannot sting and are harmless to people.
?Where does the eastern blacktail live?
In many African countries, near rivers, lakes, swamps and marshes.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Nesciothemis farinosa
- Group
- Dragonflies and damselflies
- Family
- Libellulidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Odonata > Libellulidae
- Lives on
- Africa
- Also known as
- Black-tailed skimmer, Black-tailed dancer, Black-tailed false-skimmer, Common blacktail
Where the facts come from
- Nesciothemis farinosa (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 sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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