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Sticker of Tigertail
Bug card No. 4371 of 4,939

Tigertail

Ictinogomphus ferox

The tigertail is a dragonfly from Africa. It belongs to the clubtails, dragonflies whose tail gets wider near the tip, like a little club. It lives near almost any kind of fresh water you can think of.

Lives in
Most of Africa south of the Sahara, and Algeria, at rivers, lakes and swamps
Top speed
about 40 km/h (25 mph)
Flying, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. Dragonflies have no sting, so you can 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 Tigertail
Picture by Charles J. Sharp. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

It is found in more than 20 African countries, from Senegal to Somalia and down to South Africa.

2

It lives at rivers, lakes, swamps, marshes and springs, and even at rivers and lakes that dry up for part of the year.

3

It has even been seen in the Sahara desert in Algeria, at Tassili n'Ajjer National Park.

you asked

Most asked questions about Tigertail

?Is the tigertail dangerous?

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

?Where does the tigertail live?

In Africa, near rivers, lakes, swamps and springs, in forests as well as in savanna.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Ictinogomphus ferox
Group
Dragonflies and damselflies
Family
Gomphidae
Classification
Insecta > Odonata > Gomphidae
Lives on
Africa
Also known as
Common tiger, Common tigertail

Where the facts come from

  1. Ictinogomphus ferox (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 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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More from the same group: Dragonflies and damselflies

Also at home here: Ponds, rivers and shores

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