


Top 20 Most Common Insects in Egypt
Insects, those extraordinary beings with jointed legs and exoskeletons, thrive in every cranny of our planet, including Egypt. Geographical variation, climate factors, and human touch are all contributors to the remarkable insect diversity observed here. As we delve into the 20 most common insects in Egypt, we'll uncover a world where pests and benignant insects play equally important roles, reflecting Egypt's unique environmental narrative.

Most Common Insects

1. Plain tiger butterfly
D. chrysippus is a medium-sized butterfly with a wingspan of about 7–8 cm (2.8–3.1 in). The body is black with many white spots. The wings are orange, the upperside brighter and richer than the underside. The apical half of the forewing is black with a white band. The hindwing has three black spots in the center. The wings are bordered in black and outlined with semicircular white spots. This species exhibits slight sexual dimorphism, as the Male has large scent glands on his hindwings, which the female lacks. They appear as a large black spot with a white centre if viewed from the underside D. chrysippus is a polymorphic species, so the exact coloring and patterning vary within and between populations. It is similar in appearance to the Indian fritillary (Argynnis hyperbius), which may coexist with it.


2. Scarlet dragonfly
Crocothemis erythraea can reach a length of 3.5 - 4.5 cm. These dragonflies haves a flattened and rather broad abdomen. The adult male scarlet dragonfly has a bright scarlet red, widened abdomen, with small amber patches at the bases of the hindwings. Also the veins on the leading edges of the wings are red. Females and immatures are yellow-brown and have a conspicuous pale stripe along the top of the thorax.


3. Vagrant Emperor
It is a large dragonfly with greenish-yellow eyes. Its thorax is olivaceous-brown, paler on sides. Wings are transparent with an amber-yellow patch. Abdomen is ochreous, marked with azure-blue and reddish-brown. Segment 2 is blue on dorsum and pale green on the sides. Segments 3 to 7 are olivaceous-yellow with irregular reddish-brown stripes on mid-dorsum and narrow black apical annules. There is a broad mid-dorsal blackish-brown stripe on segments 8 and 9, enclosing a pair of triangular yellow apical spots. Segment 10 is bright yellow, with its base and mid-dorsum broadly black. Female is similar to the male. Its natural habitats are shrub-dominated wetlands, swamps, freshwater lakes, intermittent freshwater lakes, freshwater marshes, intermittent freshwater marshes, and freshwater springs. It breeds in shallow tanks and marshes. A rare long-distance migrant to the British Isles, occasionally seen even in winter.


4. Violet dropwing
Trithemis annulata is a robust medium-sized species with a wingspan of 6 cm. The mature male has a dark red head and a yellow labium with brown central spot. The eyes are red with white spots on the rear edge, and the frons is dark metallic purplish-red. The prothorax is violet with slightly darker longitudinal stripes. The membranous wings have distinctive red veins, the pterostigma is orange-brown and there is a large orange-brown splash at the base of the hind wings. The abdomen is fairly broad and is pinkish-violet, with purple markings on the top of each segment and blackish markings on the terminal three segments. Females are a similar size to males but the thorax is brownish and the abdomen is yellow with dark brown markings. The wings of females lack the red veins of males but have similar orange-brown patches.


5. Red-veined darter
The Early Darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii) is a species of dragonfly in the family of the leaflets (Libellulidae), which belongs to the great dragonfly (Anisoptera).

6. Painted lady
The painted lady is a migratory butterfly that spends part of the year in Northern Africa and then migrates to Europe during the warmer months. Although the adults feed on nectar from flowers, the larvae feed on the leaves of nettles and thistles.

7. Common bluetail
The Senegal Pechlibelle (Ischnura senegalensis) is a dragonfly from the family of the slender dragonflies (Coenagrionidae).

8. Black percher
The species is on the IUCN Red List as not endangered, year of assessment 2010, the trend of the population is stable according to the IUCN. The moriaantje is found in Africa and the Mediterranean.

9. Lesser emperor
Its labium and labrum are golden-yellow and face and frons are greenish yellow and eyes are green, bluish when aged. Its thorax is pale olivaceous brown with dark brown sutures. Its segment two of the abdomen is turquoise blue. Segment three has a large blue patch at each side. Segments 4 to 9 have an irregular black middorsal stripe. Segment 10 is black.


10. Slender skimmer
The species is on the IUCN Red List as not endangered, year of assessment 2009. The slender bank dragonfly occurs from Southeastern Europe and North Africa to Japan and Australia
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