# Yellow featherlegs

*Copera marginipes*

Male yellow featherlegs have dilated, bright yellow to orange-colored legs which they wave and flaunt in elaborate hovering displays to establish territory and attract mates.

- **Taxonomy:** Animalia › Arthropoda › Insecta › Odonata › Platycnemididae › Copera
- **IUCN Red List status:** Least Concern
- **Population trend:** stable
- **Biome:** wetland
- **Habitat:** Shaded forest streams, slow-flowing rivers, marshes, and heavily vegetated freshwater ponds.
- **Diet:** Carnivorous; adults feed on small flying insects like mosquitoes, midges, and gnats, while aquatic nymphs prey on micro-invertebrates.
- **Range:** India, China, Southeast Asia, Taiwan, Japan
- **Size:** Wingspan of 40-50 mm; body length of 35-45 mm
- **Lifespan:** Up to 1 year (with the majority spent as an aquatic nymph; adults live for only a few weeks)
- **Active:** diurnal
- **Threats:** Water pollution, deforestation leading to siltation of forest streams, and loss of wetland habitats.
- **Safe to approach?:** Harmless. Yellow featherlegs do not bite, sting, or pose any danger to humans. You can safely observe them from a close distance of 1-2 meters as they perch on riverside vegetation. If one lands on you, simply remain still and enjoy the encounter until it flies away.

## About

Copera marginipes , yellow bush dart , is a species of damselfly in the family Platycnemididae. It is native to Asia, where it is widespread and common.

## Sources

- Plate: https://gaia-dex.com/species/43a4d04d-0b47-4b84-be30-f7ea6b1b9ca0
- iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/98382
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copera marginipes
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List category, as recorded by Gaia-Dex
- Photo: https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/51992556/medium.jpg (Len Worthington, CC-BY-SA, via iNaturalist)

Habitat, diet, size and similar notes are AI-written summaries; check them against the linked sources before relying on them.