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Sticker of Eastern pondhawk
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Eastern pondhawk

Erythemis simplicicollis

The eastern pondhawk is a fast hunting dragonfly that lives by ponds. The females are bright green with dark bands, and the males turn from green to powdery blue. It is a fierce little hunter in the air.

Lives in
Eastern North America, the Caribbean, Mexico and Central America, by ponds and still water
Length
3.6 to 4.8 cm (1.4 to 1.9 in)
Top speed
about 36 km/h (22 mph)
Flying, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. Dragonflies have no sting and do not bother people.
What does it eat?
It catches damselflies and other flying insects right in the air.
For real!Photo of Eastern pondhawk
Picture by D. Gordon E. Robertson. CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Eastern pondhawk about 4.8 cm long (1.9 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)A crayon about 9 cm (3.5 in)A banana about 18 cm (7.1 in)
as long as 8 grains of rice in a rowas long as 1.5 toy building bricks in a rowcould fly across a whole football pitch in 10 secondsmoves 210 times its own body length every second

How big is Eastern pondhawk compared to YOU?

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How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Its babies live under water and have green eyes.

2

Right after it leaves the water it is dull olive green, but in a few hours it turns bright green.

3

The males guard floating mats of algae, where the females like to lay their eggs.

4

The mother dips the tip of her tail into the pond to drop her eggs, while the father guards her.

5

Its wings have dark tips.

you asked

Most asked questions about Eastern pondhawk

?What does the eastern pondhawk eat?

Other flying insects, including damselflies, caught in the air.

?Why are some eastern pondhawks green and others blue?

Females stay green, and the males slowly change from green to blue as they get older.

?Is the eastern pondhawk dangerous?

No, it is harmless to people.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Erythemis simplicicollis
Group
Dragonflies and damselflies
Family
Libellulidae
Classification
Insecta > Odonata > Libellulidae
Lives on
North America
Also known as
Common pondhawk

Where the facts come from

  1. Erythemis simplicicollis (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 D. Gordon E. Robertson. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at hello@bugwiki.app and we will fix it.

More from the same group: Dragonflies and damselflies

Also at home here: Ponds, rivers and shores