Bug FAQOrange Featherleg
Platycnemis acutipennis · Order: Odonata · Family: Platycnemididae
Also called: Orange White-legged Damselfly
The orange featherleg damselfly shows a bright orange-red abdomen with blue eyes, a buff-coloured thorax with black stripes, and a small orange spot near each wing tip. It lives near fresh water that can be still or flow moderately fast, and recent records show it now occurs in Germany. Males have moderately wide hind tibias, which helps tell them apart from similar species that have blue abdomens.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Orange-red abdomen combined with blue eyes is unique among European damselflies. Thorax is buff coloured with black stripes and each wing has an orange spot near its tip.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
Found near fresh water, whether the water is still or only moderately fast flowing.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Recent observations have recorded this species in Germany.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
Males have moderately wide hind tibias; related species with wider tibias have blue abdomens.
Source: Wikipedia
More photos
Same family (Platycnemididae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platycnemis_acutipennis
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.