Portia widow
Palpopleura portia
The portia widow is a small dragonfly from Africa. It belongs to the skimmer family of dragonflies. It zips around near water and grassy places, catching other insects in the air.
Lives in
Much of Africa south of the Sahara, and Madagascar
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. Dragonflies do not sting people.
What does it eat?
Like all dragonflies, it catches small flying insects in the air. Its babies hunt underwater.
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)
Portia widow 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 20 African countries and on the big island of Madagascar.
2
It can live near rivers, lakes, swamps, marshes and springs, and even in grassy savanna.
3
Like all dragonflies, its babies grow up underwater before they turn into flying adults.
you asked
Most asked questions about Portia widow
?Where does the portia widow live?
In much of Africa, from Senegal to South Africa, and on Madagascar.
?Is the portia widow dangerous?
No. Like all dragonflies, it cannot sting people.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Palpopleura portia
- Group
- Dragonflies and damselflies
- Family
- Libellulidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Odonata > Libellulidae
- Lives on
- Africa
Where the facts come from
- Palpopleura portia (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.
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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