Fiery skimmer
Orthetrum villosovittatum
Name means: “straight-tailed, hairy and striped, after the hairy dark streak on the side of its chest”
The fiery skimmer is a dragonfly from Australia and New Guinea. Grown up males have a bright red tail, like a little flame. It zips around boggy places, streams and swamps.
Lives in
Australia, New Guinea and nearby islands
Wingspan
6 to 8.5 cm (2.4 to 3.3 in)
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It cannot sting and does not bite people.
What does it eat?
It catches flying insects in the air.
How big is it?
How wide are its wings?
🧱wings as wide as 2.5 toy building bricks⚽could fly across a whole football pitch in 7.9 seconds
How big is Fiery skimmer compared to YOU?
Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.
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)
Fiery skimmer about 48 km/h (30 mph)
A car driving in town about 50 km/h (31 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
The male's red tail is pinched in a little near the middle.
2
Young males are amber and black, and females are a yellowish ochre colour.
3
Its wings measure 60 to 85 millimetres from tip to tip.
4
It is common in most of the places where it lives.
you asked
Most asked questions about Fiery skimmer
?Where does the fiery skimmer live?
In Australia, New Guinea and nearby islands, near boggy seeps, streams and swamps.
?Why is it called the fiery skimmer?
Because grown up males have a bright red tail.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Orthetrum villosovittatum
- Group
- Dragonflies and damselflies
- Family
- Libellulidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Odonata > Libellulidae
- Lives on
- Australia and Oceania, Asia
Where the facts come from
- Orthetrum villosovittatum (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 Summerdrought. 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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