Scarlet Percher

Diplacodes haematodes · Order: Odonata · Family: Libellulidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Scarlet Percher
Photo: Ged Tranter, CC BY

The scarlet percher is a small dragonfly with a wingspan of about 60 mm and a body length of 35 mm. Males are bright red while females are yellow-ochre, and the wing colours differ between the sexes. It is common near sunny riverbanks, streams, ponds and lakes, often perching on warm rocks, and it occurs across mainland Australia, Timor, New Guinea, Vanuatu and New Caledonia.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

Males are brilliant red; females are yellow-ochre. Females have yellow shading on the outer wings, males have similar colour at the wing bases.

Source: Wikipedia

Size

Wingspan is about 60 mm and body length about 35 mm.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

Found in hot, sunny spots near rivers, streams, ponds and lakes. Often perches on warm rocks rather than vegetation.

Source: Wikipedia

More photos

Scarlet Percher photo 3
Photo: Graham Winterflood, CC BY-SA
Scarlet Percher photo 4
Photo: Graham Winterflood, 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/Diplacodes_haematodes

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

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

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