Crocothemis facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Crocothemis
Crocothemis servilia male
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Odonata
Infraorder:	Anisoptera
Family:	Libellulidae
Genus:	Crocothemis Brauer, 1868

Crocothemis is a genus of dragonflies in the Libellulidae family, subfamily Sympetrinae (darters). Various species of this genus occur in southern Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia and the Southwest Pacific. They are generally small to medium-sized dragonflies.

These dragonflies are often noticed due to their colours. Males are generally very brightly coloured, ranging from totally red in several species, to the rich blue of Australia's C. nigrifrons. As with many Libellulid species, the females tend to be dull brown or orange.

Like most libellulids they tend to perch on sticks, reeds or stones near water, flying out to catch insects then returning to their perch.

Species

The genus contains the following species:

• Crocothemis brevistigma Pinhey, 1961
• Crocothemis corocea Navás, 1918
• Crocothemis divisa Karsch, 1898 – divisa scarlet, slender scarlet, slender scarlet-darter
• Crocothemis erythraea (Brullé, 1832) – scarlet darter, broad scarlet
• Crocothemis misrai Baijal & Agarwal, 1956
• Crocothemis nigrifrons (Kirby, 1894) – black-headed skimmer
• Crocothemis sanguinolenta (Burmeister, 1839) – little scarlet, slim scarlet-darter, small scarlet
• Crocothemis saxicolor Ris, 1921 – granite scarlet
• Crocothemis servilia (Drury, 1773) – scarlet skimmer, oriental scarlet
• Crocothemis striata Lohmann, 1981