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.

Habitat: Wetlands

Appearance

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.

KingdomAnimaliaPhylumArthropodaClassInsectaOrderOdonataFamilyLibellulidaeGenusLibellula

Eight-spotted Skimmer

Interesting facts

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!

Special abilities

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.

Measurements & details

Wingspan: 70-90 mm
Size: 45-55 mm
Lifespan: 30-90 days
Flight Speed: 35 km/h
Leg Count: 6

Diet & Feeding

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

Age differences: Nymphs (young) hunt aquatic insects and small tadpoles, while adults exclusively catch flying insects.

Primary Foods

mosquitoes
gnats
flies
midges
small moths

Foraging Method

Pursuit

Ecological connections

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

Traits

Spotted

Marked with spots or patches of a different color.

Solitary

Solitary animals live alone for most of their lives, only interacting with others for mating or parental care.

Aerial

Aerial creatures spend a significant portion of their lives airborne, utilizing flight for various activities such as hunting, migration, or nesting.

Colorful

Colorful describes organisms or objects displaying a wide range of bright and distinct colors.

Insectivorous

This trait identifies organisms whose diet primarily consists of insects and other small invertebrates.

Wetland

This habitat trait identifies species found in wetlands, which are areas of land saturated with water, either permanently or seasonally, including marshes, swamps, and bogs.