Green marsh hawk
The green marsh hawk is a greenish yellow dragonfly with black stripes and bright green eyes. It loves to sit very still on a twig for a long time. Then suddenly it zooms off to catch its lunch.

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Fun facts
It lives in a huge area, from Europe all the way to Australia.
Its family name Orthetrum means straight tummy, because its body has straight sides.
The boys and girls look almost exactly the same.
It can sit without moving on a dry twig for a very long time.
Most asked questions about Green marsh hawk
?What does the green marsh hawk eat?
It catches smaller butterflies and other dragonflies in the air.
?Is the green marsh hawk dangerous?
No. Dragonflies cannot sting and are harmless to people.
?How big is the green marsh hawk?
Its wings measure about 60 to 85 millimetres from tip to tip.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Orthetrum sabina
- Group
- Dragonflies and damselflies
- Family
- Libellulidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Odonata > Libellulidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia and Oceania
- Also known as
- Slender skimmer
Where the facts come from
- Orthetrum sabina (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Charles J. Sharp. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.