Eight-spotted Skimmer

Libellula forensis

The Eight-spotted Skimmer is a beautiful dragonfly with eight spots on its wings! It loves to fly over ponds and lakes, catching tiny insects to eat.

Hábitat: Wetlands

Aspecto

The Eight-spotted Skimmer is a medium-sized dragonfly with a dark body, often with yellow side stripes. Its most distinctive feature is its wings, which have two prominent dark brown or black patches on each wing, making a total of eight spots. There is often a striking white or pale patch between the dark wing spots.

ReinoAnimaliaFiloArthropodaClaseInsectaOrdenOdonataFamiliaLibellulidaeGéneroLibellula

Eight-spotted Skimmer

Categoría

Insectos

Rareza

Common

Peligro

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Snaps

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Datos interesantes

Dragonflies spend most of their lives as fierce hunters underwater before taking to the sky!

Its amazing compound eyes have up to 30,000 tiny lenses for spotting the smallest prey!

They help keep pesky mosquito populations in check, especially around wetlands!

This ancient insect's ancestors flew the Earth over 300 million years ago, before dinosaurs!

Habilidades especiales

Eight-spotted Skimmer has massive compound eyes that give it nearly 360-degree vision for spotting tiny insects.

Eight-spotted Skimmer can fly backward, hover, and dart rapidly, catching prey mid-air with incredible agility.

Eight-spotted Skimmer can move its four wings independently, allowing for amazing control and complex flight patterns.

Medidas y detalles

Envergadura: 70-90 mm
Tamaño: 45-55 mm
Esperanza de vida: 30-90 días
Velocidad de vuelo: 35 km/h
Cantidad de patas: 6

Dieta y alimentación

An excellent hunter, it eats many flying insects, helping keep pest populations in check.

Diferencias por edad: Nymphs (young) hunt aquatic insects and small tadpoles, while adults exclusively catch flying insects.

Alimentos principales

mosquitoes
gnats
flies
midges
small moths

Método de búsqueda

Pursuit

Conexiones ecológicas

hunts

Common House Mosquito

Culex pipiens

helps control mosquito populations

eaten by

American Bullfrog

Lithobates catesbeianus

nymphs are prey for this hungry amphibian

eaten by

Eastern Kingbird

Tyrannus tyrannus

adults are a quick meal for this agile bird

hunts

House Fly

Musca domestica

an active predator of these common pests

Rasgos

Manchado

Marcado con manchas o parches de un color diferente.

Solitario

Los animales solitarios viven solos durante la mayor parte de su vida y solo interactúan con otros para aparearse o cuidar de sus crías.

Aéreo

Las criaturas aéreas pasan una parte importante de su vida en el aire, utilizando el vuelo para diversas actividades como la caza, la migración o la anidación.

Colorido

Colorido describe a organismos u objetos que exhiben una amplia variedad de colores brillantes y distintivos.

Insectívoro

Este rasgo identifica a los organismos cuya dieta consiste principalmente en insectos y otros pequeños invertebrados.

Humedal

Este rasgo de hábitat identifica especies que se encuentran en humedales, que son áreas de tierra saturadas de agua, ya sea permanente o estacionalmente, e incluyen marismas, pantanos y ciénagas.