Ditch jewel (Brachythemis contaminata)

Latin Name	Observation Date	Location
Brachythemis contaminata	Jun 02, 2026	Purulia, Natore, Bangladesh

Those who have taken macro photos of dragonflie's understand how difficult it is to take photos. Let us learn more about this dragonfly today.

Name:
Dragonfly are always a great subject for macro photography. One of the most beautiful dragonfly that can be easily seen in the nature around us is the 'Ditch jewel'. It is as beautiful to look at as its physical structure is quite interesting.

​Scientific name:
In the scientific world, this dragonfly is known as Brachythemis contaminata. It was named by the scientist Fabricius in 1793. It also has another equivalent scientific name or synonym, which is Libellula truncatula, which was given by the scientist Rambur in 1842.

​Family and Genus:
This dragonfly is a small animal of the phylum Arthropoda and class Insecta of the animal kingdom. They belong to the family Libellulidae under the Anisoptera infraorder of the Odonata class. Its genus name is Brachythemis.

​Size and body structure:
It is a medium to small dragonfly in terms of size. They have a brown cover on the top of their head and their eyes are yellow-green. Their chest is slightly olive-brown in color, where a few clear reddish-brown stripes can be seen. Although a large part of the wings of the male dragonfly is transparent, there is a wide bright orange hue from the base of the wings. Their abdomen is reddish-red or yellowish-red in color. On the other hand, the body color of the female dragonfly is slightly paler yellow-green than that of the male. The wings of the female dragonfly do not have that bright orange hue like the males, only the very base of the wings has a light yellow hue and the rest of the wings are completely transparent.

​Native and habitat:
This dragonfly roams freely in nature in various countries of Asia. They are listed as 'Least Concern' on the IUCN conservation list. They are mainly comfortable in still water or slow-moving water bodies. They are often seen sunbathing around large fish ponds like 45th century, small ponds next to malta and lemon gardens, drains or weedy water bodies.

​Food:
Like other dragonfly in nature, the ditch jewel is a completely predatory insect. They hunt and eat mosquitoes, flies and other small harmful insects while flying. Due to their very keen eyesight, they can quickly catch their prey while flying in the sky.

​Reproduction:
Their reproduction and breeding process is completed entirely in water bodies. They breed in still or slow-moving water bodies, such as drains, ponds or weedy water bodies. After mating, the female dragonfly usually lays eggs on the surface of the water or on aquatic plants. The eggs hatch into nymphs or larvae, which grow underwater. The aquatic larvae later molt and spread their wings as full-fledged dragonfly and fly into the sky.

​Benefits:
The benefits of these dragonfly in maintaining the balance of the environment are immense. They help in natural biocontrol by eating mosquitoes and other harmful insects. Since mosquitoes and aquatic mosquito larvae are one of their main foods, they play an excellent role in keeping the environment around us mosquito-free. Apart from this, they also indirectly help in maintaining a healthy ecosystem in ponds or gardens.

​Harmfulness:
These dragonfly have no direct harm to humans, crops or the environment. They do not bite humans, do not sting or spread any kind of pathogens. However, in fish farming, their nymphs or aquatic larvae can sometimes eat very small fry, which can cause minor damage in hatcheries or nursery ponds.

Genetics and Evolution:

This species of dragonfly has a remarkable genetic feature. Its genome size is the smallest among its genus, with a length of only 15,056 bp. This is the first species among the insects of the Libellulidae family, for which scientists have complete mitochondrial genome or mitogenome information.

I hope you enjoy the information.

I learned about them from various sites including iNaturalist, Wikipedia and Google.

(All posts are written in Bengali and translated into English using Google Translate.)
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Camera Used	Samsung SM-G973F
F-Stop	F2.4
ISO speed	ISO
Focal length	26mm
Flash	No
Editing app	default
Photography	Ditch jewel (Brachythemis contaminata)
Photographer	@mshbd
Location	Purulia, Natore, Bangladesh

Link to original community
*https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/368716946
*

Latitude	Longitude	Map Link
24.3360	89.1127	*https://www.openstreetmap.org/?#map=12/24.3360/89.1127
*