Keyhole glider
The keyhole glider is a medium-sized red dragonfly. It is a champion traveller that can fly very, very far. On sunny days it glides and soars for hours without getting tired.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
It can ride the trade winds across the ocean. It has been seen on islands in the Caribbean and in Venezuela in South America.
It has reached Europe only once. In 2016 a pair turned up on the small Italian island of Linosa.
Each back wing has a brownish black patch near the body with a golden yellow ring around it.
When it is windy, it sits on a bare twig and points its tail down to keep its balance.
It often soars together with other kinds of dragonflies in big mixed groups.
Most asked questions about Keyhole glider
?Where does the keyhole glider live?
Mostly in Africa, Arabia and Asia. It is a great traveller and has even been seen in the Caribbean and once in Italy.
?What colour is the keyhole glider?
The male is red. The female looks similar but is yellowish.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Tramea basilaris
- Group
- Dragonflies and damselflies
- Family
- Libellulidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Odonata > Libellulidae
- Lives on
- Africa, Asia
- Also known as
- Red marsh trotter, Wheeling glider
Where the facts come from
- Tramea basilaris (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 Shino jacob koottanad. 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.
Bug Wiki honey jar For grown-ups: Bug Wiki is free, with no ads and no tracking. A small tip helps keep it online.Leave a tip
Emperor dragonfly
Common whitetail
Green darner
Ebony jewelwing
Globe skimmer
Blue dasher
Lesser cream wave
Common white-flanked water spider
Eastern green drake
Ghost tiger beetle
Speckled dun
Diamond northern caddisfly