Eight-spotted Skimmer
Encyclopedia
The Eight-spotted Skimmer (Libellula forensis) is a dragonfly
of the skimmer
family.
from the similar Twelve-spotted Skimmer
by counting the spots.
Adult males are additionally adorned with opaque white spots between the black ones.
It can be found west of the Rocky Mountains near muddy bottomed ponds and lakes.
East of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, some females may also have white spots,
making them the only female dragonflies in North American white spots on the wings.
The total length is 44 to 50mm.
Flight season is April through October.
Dragonfly
A dragonfly is a winged insect belonging to the order Odonata, the suborder Epiprocta or, in the strict sense, the infraorder Anisoptera . It is characterized by large multifaceted eyes, two pairs of strong transparent wings, and an elongated body...
of the skimmer
Libellulidae
The skimmers or perchers and their relatives form the Libellulidae, the largest dragonfly family in the world. It is sometimes considered to contain the Corduliidae as the subfamily Corduliinae and the Macromiidae as the subfamily Macromiinae. Even if these are excluded , there still remains a...
family.
Description
It has two black spots on each wing for a total of eight, and can be distinguishedfrom the similar Twelve-spotted Skimmer
Twelve-spotted Skimmer
The Twelve-spotted Skimmer is a common North American skimmer dragonfly, found in southern Canada and in all 48 of the contiguous U.S. states.It is a large species, at long. Each wing has three brown spots...
by counting the spots.
Adult males are additionally adorned with opaque white spots between the black ones.
It can be found west of the Rocky Mountains near muddy bottomed ponds and lakes.
East of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, some females may also have white spots,
making them the only female dragonflies in North American white spots on the wings.
The total length is 44 to 50mm.
Flight season is April through October.
External links
- Libellula forensis on BugGuide.Net