Yellow-spotted emerald
The yellow-spotted emerald is a dragonfly that lives in wetlands from France all the way to Siberia and Mongolia. Unlike its shiny green cousins, it has yellow spots on its body.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
Its yellow spots get darker as it grows older and may almost disappear.
Females have the biggest spots, and young ones have the brightest.
Males guard their own patch and chase away other males.
In 2018 it was found in Britain for the first time. The photographer who spotted it asked people online to help name it.
When a pair mates, they fly joined together in the shape of a wheel, circling over the reeds.
Most asked questions about Yellow-spotted emerald
?Is the yellow-spotted emerald dangerous?
No. Dragonflies have no sting and do not hurt people.
?Where does the yellow-spotted emerald live?
In wetlands across Europe and Asia, from France to Siberia and Mongolia.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Somatochlora flavomaculata
- Group
- Dragonflies and damselflies
- Family
- Corduliidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Odonata > Corduliidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia
Where the facts come from
- Somatochlora flavomaculata (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 Andreas Eichler. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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