#libellulidae

It'd be hard to call the roseate skimmer by any other name! Males are noted for their bright pink color, which is rare among dragonflies. Thanks to their blush, they can be easily spotted near open bodies of water from the southeastern United States all the way to Brazil.

NEW DRAGONFLY JUST DROPPED!!!

Description of Lyriothemis keralensis sp. n. (Odonata: Libellulidae) from the southwestern coast of India

Dattaprasad Sawanta, A. Vivek Chandrana, Renjith Jacob Mathews, Krushnamegh Kunte

ABSTRACT

A new species of dragonfly, Lyriothemis keralensis sp. n. is described from the coastal plains adjoining the Western Ghats of Kerala, southern India, based on a male holotype (IBC-CD161) and a female paratype (IBC-CD310) (type specimens are deposited in the Biodiversity Lab Research Collections, currently held at the National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bengaluru). This taxon was hitherto misidentified as L. acigastra (Selys, 1878) from which it differs in having leaner abdomen, and differently shaped secondary genitalia and caudal appendages. Information on its biology and ecology are provided.

Read the paper here:

A halloween pennant (Celithemis eponina) in North America

although black-tailed skimmers (Orthetrum cancellatum) and many of its relatives are known for the mature males' admittedly very fancy sky blue abdomen, i like the females' gold just as much. this one was more muted than usual, almost a bronze, which could be due to her being an older individual or perhaps me having to crank the exposure down to be able to see anything

a twelve-spotted skimmer (Libellula pulchella) staking out his territory by a pond

[PHOTO TAKEN: JUNE 18TH, 2025 | Image ID: A photo of a black, brown, and yellow widow skimmer dragonfly perching on a thin green plant stem /End ID.]