Bug FAQDuckweed Firetail
Telebasis byersi · Order: Odonata · Family: Coenagrionidae
Adult duckweed firetails are 25 to 31 mm long and males are bright red with black markings and red-above, yellow-below eyes, while females are brown-tan. They live among floating vegetation such as duckweed in swampy ponds, pools, swamps and slow streams, and the nymphs hide in the same plant mats. The species is native to the southeastern United States, mainly along the east coast from Maryland to Florida.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Males are bright red with black marks on the head and thorax and have eyes that are red on top and yellow underneath. Females are brown and tan in color.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Adults measure 25 to 31 mm (about 1 in) in length. Nymphs are smaller, about 13 to 16 mm long.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
They inhabit swampy ponds or pools covered with duckweed, water lettuce, or other floating plants, as well as swamps and sluggish streams. Nymphs are found living within those floating vegetation masses.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
The duckweed firetail occurs only in the United States, primarily in the southeastern region. Its range extends along the east coast from Maryland south to Florida.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
Nymphs can also be distinguished from T. salva by several morphological characters.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 19 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana, Georgia, Virginia, Oklahoma, Texas.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
What do adult duckweed firetails look like?
Males are bright red with black markings and have red eyes above yellow eyes below, while females are brown-tan.
Source: Wikipedia
How big are duckweed firetails?
Adults are 25 to 31 mm long and nymphs are 13 to 16 mm long.
Source: Wikipedia
Where can I find duckweed firetails?
They live in swampy ponds, pools, swamps and slow streams with floating plants, and are native to the southeastern United States from Maryland to Florida.
Source: Wikipedia
What other species might I confuse with duckweed firetails?
They resemble Telebasis salva, but differ in geographic range and specific body markings.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Coenagrionidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duckweed_firetail
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-24.