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Sticker of Thornbush dasher
Bug card No. 4355 of 4,939

Thornbush dasher

Micrathyria hagenii
Eats: Other bugs and small animalsDragonflies and damselfliesPonds, rivers and shores6 legs

The thornbush dasher is a dragonfly from the warm parts of the Americas. It belongs to the skimmers, a big family of dragonflies. Like all dragonflies, it has four see-through wings and huge eyes.

Lives in
North America, Central America and the islands of the Caribbean, near water
Top speed
about 40 km/h (25 mph)
Flying, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. Dragonflies have no sting. Just watch it fly.
What does it eat?
It catches small flying insects in the air. Its babies live under water and hunt there too.
For real!Photo of Thornbush dasher
Picture by pondhawk. CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Scientists checked on it in 2017 and found that it is not in danger.

2

There are about as many of them now as before, so it is doing fine.

3

Like all dragonflies, it starts life under water and only later climbs out and gets wings.

you asked

Most asked questions about Thornbush dasher

?Is the thornbush dasher dangerous?

No. Dragonflies have no sting and do not hurt people.

?Where does the thornbush dasher live?

In North America, Central America and on Caribbean islands.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Micrathyria hagenii
Group
Dragonflies and damselflies
Family
Libellulidae
Classification
Insecta > Odonata > Libellulidae
Lives on
North America

Where the facts come from

  1. Micrathyria hagenii (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 pondhawk. CC BY 2.0, 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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