Red-veined Dropwing

Trithemis arteriosa · Order: Odonata · Family: Libellulidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Red-veined Dropwing
Photo: Juan Emilio, CC BY-SA

Mature males have a deep-red face with a purplish sheen on the top of the head and bright red veins on the wings, plus orange markings near the wing bases. It lives around many slow-moving or still water sites such as streams, rivers, lakes, marshes, irrigation canals and ditches. The species is common across most of Africa and also reaches western Asia and southern Europe.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

Mature males show a deep red face with a purple sheen on the vertex and frons. Their wings have bright red veins and orange markings at the bases.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

Includes streams, rivers, intermittent rivers, lakes, intermittent lakes, marshes, intermittent marshes, irrigation canals and ditches.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

Widespread and common across most of Africa, extending into western Asia and southern Europe.

Source: Wikipedia

More photos

Red-veined Dropwing photo 2
Photo: iNaturalist user, CC0
Red-veined Dropwing photo 3
Photo: Christoph Moning, CC BY
Red-veined Dropwing photo 4
Photo: Mourad Harzallah, CC BY
Red-veined Dropwing photo 5
Photo: iNaturalist user, CC0

Same family (Libellulidae)

Blue DasherBlue DasherPachydiplax longipennisEastern PondhawkEastern PondhawkErythemis simplicicollisCommon WhitetailCommon WhitetailPlathemis lydiaWidow SkimmerWidow SkimmerLibellula luctuosaAutumn MeadowhawkAutumn MeadowhawkSympetrum vicinumCommon DarterCommon DarterSympetrum striolatum

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trithemis_arteriosa

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.

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This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

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