Portia Widow

Palpopleura portia · Order: Odonata · Family: Libellulidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Portia Widow
Photo: Robert Taylor, CC BY

It lives in many wet and dry savanna and shrubland areas, as well as rivers, lakes, marshes and springs. It is found across many African countries, from South Africa and Namibia up to Kenya and Ethiopia, and also on Madagascar.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

Its habitats include dry and moist savanna, dry and moist shrubland, rivers, intermittent rivers, wetlands, swamps, freshwater lakes and marshes, and springs.

Source: Wikipedia

More photos

Portia Widow photo 3
Photo: Alandmanson, CC BY
Portia Widow photo 4
Photo: Charles J Sharp, CC BY-SA

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/Palpopleura_portia

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 2026-10-23.

How this page works

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.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.