Dark whiteface
The dark whiteface is a medium-sized dragonfly with a dark, dull body and a white face. The males look frosty bluish grey. It lives at quiet ponds and bog lakes full of water plants, and it lives in Estonia too.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
Its babies live under water for three years before they climb out and become dragonflies.
Almost all the grown-ups of one pond come out at the same time.
The male sits on a water lily, a stone or a straw and keeps watch over his part of the pond.
It likes ponds with lots of plants, because the babies can hide from hungry fish among them.
It is getting rarer, because many of its bogs and ponds have been destroyed or polluted.
Most asked questions about Dark whiteface
?Is the dark whiteface dangerous?
No. Dragonflies have no sting and are harmless to people.
?Does the dark whiteface live in Estonia?
Yes. It lives in Estonia and in many other countries of northern and eastern Europe.
?When can you see the dark whiteface?
From late April or May to the middle of August. It is most common in June.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Leucorrhinia albifrons
- Named by
- Burmeister, 1839
- Group
- Dragonflies and damselflies
- Family
- Libellulidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Odonata > Libellulidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia
- Also known as
- Eastern white-faced darter
Where the facts come from
- Leucorrhinia albifrons (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 Christian Fischer. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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