Common darter
Sympetrum striolatum (Charpentier, 1840)
Status not recordeddragonflies
The common darter (Sympetrum striolatum) is a species in the family Libellulidae, order Odonata. Recorded adults reach 4.4 cm in length.
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Quick facts about the common darter
- Weight
- Not recorded
- Length
- 3.5 cm – 4.4 cm
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Invertivore
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- freshwater
- Young per litter or clutch
- Not recorded
- Active
- By day (diurnal)
- Generations a year
- One
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the common darter?
Where does the common darter live?
Not recorded
Is the common darter endangered?
No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.
How is the common darter classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumArthropoda
- classInsecta
- orderOdonata
- familyLibellulidae
- genusSympetrum
- SpeciesSympetrum striolatum (Charpentier, 1840)
Synonyms Diplax commixta, Diplax striolata, Libellula macrocephala, Libellula ruficollis, Libellula striolatum, Sympetrum commixtum, Sympetrum durum, Sympetrum nigrescens, Sympetrum striolatum doshidorzhii, Sympetrum subpruinosum
Other names and names in other languages (35)
- Black-legged SympetrumEnglish
- Common SympetrumEnglish
- Common/ highland darter dragonflyEnglish
- Highland darterEnglish
- Veliki livadarBosnian
- Pixaví estriatCatalan
- vážka žíhanáCzech
- Gwäell GyffredinWelsh
- Stor hedelibelDanish
- Große HeidelibelleGerman
- Libélula estriadaSpanish
- lännensyyskorentoFinnish
- Sympétrum StriéFrench
- tarbh-nathrach gathair cumantaScottish Gaelic
- Lavacú estriadoGalician
- Veliki strijelacCroatian
- Cardinale striatoItalian
- senhøstlibelleNorwegian Bokmål
- Bruinrode heidelibelDutch
- seinhaustlibelleNorwegian Nynorsk
- Libélula comumPortuguese
- Progasti kamenjakSlovenian
- Hedhësi i zakonshëmAlbanian
- Jesenji poljski konjicSerbian
- stor ängstrollsländaSwedish
- 条斑赤蜻Chinese
- Gwäell yr UcheldirWelsh
- Gweyll CyffredinWelsh
- Gweyll yr UcheldirWelsh
- Picellwr CyffredinWelsh
- Le Sympétrum StriéFrench
- Sympétrum fascié (Le)French
- tairbh-nathrach ghathair chumantaScottish Gaelic
- rødbrun høstlibelleNorwegian Bokmål
- större ängstrollsländaSwedish
Relatives of the common darter
Other species in the same genus Sympetrum.

Yellow-winged darter
Sympetrum flaveolum

Ruddy darter
Sympetrum sanguineum
Nomad
Sympetrum fonscolombii
Vagrant darter
Sympetrum vulgatum
Black darter
Sympetrum danae
Banded darter
Sympetrum pedemontanum
CompareCommon darter vs Yellow-winged darterCommon darter vs Ruddy darterCommon darter vs NomadCommon darter vs Vagrant darter
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the common darter?
An adult common darter measures 3.5 cm – 4.4 cm long, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
What kind of animal is the common darter?
The common darter (Sympetrum striolatum) belongs to the family Libellulidae in the order Odonata.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
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Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits · CC BY 4.0 · v1
Oliveira, B.F., São-Pedro, V.A., Santos-Barrera, G., Penone, C. & Costa, G.C. (2017) AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits. Scientific Data 4: 170123. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.123. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.4644424.v5 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - LepTraits 1.0: a globally comprehensive dataset of butterfly traits · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Shirey, V., Larsen, E., Doherty, A. et al. (2022) LepTraits 1.0: a globally comprehensive dataset of butterfly traits. Scientific Data 9: 382. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01473-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.19874602.v1 - Northwestern European arthropod life histories and ecological traits (raw datasets) · CC BY 4.0 · 2024-12-17
Logghe, G., Batsleer, F., Maes, D. et al. (2025) An in-depth dataset of northwestern European arthropod life histories and ecological traits. Biodiversity Data Journal 13: e146785. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.13.e146785. Data: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13379714 - ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles · CC BY 4.0 · v1-2
Oskyrko, O., Mi, C., Meiri, S. et al. (2024) ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles. Scientific Data 11: 243. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03079-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24572683.v4 - Sharkipedia: a curated open access database of shark and ray life history traits · CC BY 4.0 · 1.0-2022-06-17
Mull, C.G., Pacoureau, N., Pardo, S.A. et al. (2022) Sharkipedia: a curated open access database of shark and ray life history traits and abundance time-series. Scientific Data 9: 559. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01655-1. Data: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6656525 - SquamBase 1.0 - a dataset of squamate species traits · CC0 1.0 · 1.0-dryad-v5
Meiri, S. (2024) SquamBase - a database of squamate (Reptilia: Squamata) traits. Global Ecology and Biogeography 33(4): e13812. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13812. Data: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.76hdr7t3b - TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe · CC BY 4.0 · 2.0
Chauvier, Y., Adde, A., Bergamini, A. et al. (2025) TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15063844 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Common darter (Sympetrum striolatum). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-darter
“Common darter (Sympetrum striolatum).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-darter.
@misc{common_darter_2026,
title = {Common darter (Sympetrum striolatum)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-darter},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}