False Puffball vs Long-tailed Sylph

Reticularia lycoperdon compared with Aglaiocercus kingii

Key Differences

• False Puffball is Not Evaluated while Long-tailed Sylph is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	False Puffball	Long-tailed Sylph
Kingdom	Protozoa (protozoa)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Mycetozoa	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Myxomycetes (Myxomycetes)	Aves (Birds)
Order	Cribrariales (Cribrariida)	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)
Family	Tubiferaceae	Trochilidae
Genus	Reticularia	Aglaiocercus
Species	Reticularia lycoperdon	Aglaiocercus kingii

Conservation Status

False Puffball

NE — Not Evaluated

Long-tailed Sylph

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	False Puffball	Long-tailed Sylph
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

False Puffball

Habitat

Native to Asia and Europe and North America, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (Taiwan), Europe (5 countries), North America (United States), and South America (Brazil).

Long-tailed Sylph

Habitat

Typically found in various aerial, terrestrial, and aquatic environments.

Range

Distributed across Colombia, Ecuador, Norway, and Venezuela.

Long-tailed Sylph

One of the most strikingly ornamented hummingbirds, male long-tailed sylphs have iridescent green plumage and dramatically elongated, ribbon-like outer tail feathers reaching up to 22 cm — over three times the body length. Found in Andean cloud forests of Colombia and Venezuela, they inhabit humid montane forest between 1,400–2,800 meters elevation. Males perform elaborate display flights to attract females. Their extravagant tails are a classic example of sexual selection via female preference.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 1 countries:

🇳🇴 Norway