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Sticker of Pale-spotted emperor
Bug card No. 3238 of 4,939

Pale-spotted emperor

Anax guttatus
Name means: “the spotted king”
Eats: Other bugs and small animalsDragonflies and damselfliesPonds, rivers and shores6 legs

The pale-spotted emperor is a big dragonfly with bright blue eyes and a pale green chest. Its long body is dark brown with blue-green and orange spots. The inner half of each back wing is brown.

Lives in
Southern and eastern Asia, Australia, Africa and Pacific islands, at ponds and slow streams
Length
8 cm (3.1 in)
Wingspan
11 cm (4.3 in)
Top speed
about 46 km/h (29 mph)
Flying, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. Dragonflies have no sting. Just watch it fly.
What does it eat?
It catches flying insects in the air. Its babies live under water and hunt small water animals.
For real!Photo of Pale-spotted emperor
Picture by Hectonichus. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Pale-spotted emperor about 8 cm long (3.1 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)A crayon about 9 cm (3.5 in)A banana about 18 cm (7.1 in)

How wide are its wings?

Pale-spotted emperor wings about 11 cm tip to tip (4.3 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)A crayon about 9 cm (3.5 in)A banana about 18 cm (7.1 in)
as long as 2.5 toy building bricks in a rowwings as wide as your handcould fly across a whole football pitch in 8.2 secondsmoves 160 times its own body length every second

How big is Pale-spotted emperor compared to YOU?

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How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

It lives in a huge area, from India and Japan to Australia and many Pacific islands such as Fiji and Samoa.

2

It does not mind towns, so you can find it at ponds in cities too.

3

In the female, the brown patch on the back wings can be pale or missing.

4

It likes still or slowly flowing fresh water, especially open ponds.

you asked

Most asked questions about Pale-spotted emperor

?How big is the pale-spotted emperor?

Its body is about 8 cm long, and its wings are about 11 cm across.

?Where does the pale-spotted emperor live?

From India and Japan to Australia and many Pacific islands, at ponds and slow streams.

?Is the pale-spotted emperor dangerous?

No. Dragonflies have no sting and are harmless to people.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Anax guttatus
Group
Dragonflies and damselflies
Family
Aeshnidae
Classification
Insecta > Odonata > Aeshnidae
Lives on
Asia, Australia and Oceania, Africa
Also known as
Lesser green emperor

Where the facts come from

  1. Anax guttatus (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Hectonichus. 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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