Desert Firetail Damselfly vs Subterranean Diving Beetle

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Desert Firetail Damselfly Subterranean Diving Beetle
Scientific Name Telebasis salva Limbodessus palmulaoides
Order Odonata Coleoptera
Family Coenagrionidae Dytiscidae
Size 25-32 mm 1.5-2.5 mm
Habitat Deserts & Drylands Caves
Diet Omnivores Omnivores
Regions North America Australia
Conservation Least Concern Data Deficient

Desert Firetail Damselfly

A bright red damselfly found at ponds and streams in the arid American Southwest. Males are vivid crimson while females are duller brown.

💡

Did You Know?

It is one of the most heat-tolerant damselflies, actively flying in temperatures over 40 degrees Celsius.

Subterranean Diving Beetle

An eyeless aquatic beetle living in underground calcrete aquifers of Western Australia. It has lost all pigmentation and wing development.

💡

Did You Know?

It evolved independently from surface ancestors trapped by the aridification of Australia.