Windwolf
Crex Meadows ... Some Dragonflies
Twelve-spotted Skimmers
Libellula pulchella
The Twelve-spotted Skimmer can be found throughout the USA and into southern Canada. It is a large Dragonfly, around 2 inches long (head to tail).
The Twelve-spotted Skimmer is named for the wings of the male of the species. There are 12 dark brown (which can look black sometimes) spots on the wings.
Picture on left taken June 12, 2007
Each dragonfly wing has 3 of the dark spots, begining on the outside of the wing, giving a total of 12 dark spots.
Between these 12 dark spots are 10 white spots. The top wing has only two white spots on each side and the bottom wing has three white spots on each side. The third spot on the lower wing is located below the dark spot and along the dragonflies body.
Depending on localised common names, some people refer to this type of dragonfly as the Ten Spot Skimmer.
Picture on right taken June 12, 2007
The female of the Twelve-spotted Skimmer looks very different from the male. She is a brown dragonfly with only the dark wing markings and not the white spots.
The female of the Twelve-spotted Skimmer is often confused with the female of the Common Whitetail.
One of the differences between the two females is when looking down on the female Twelve-spotted Skimmer, she will have a yellowish band along her sides. The female Common Whiteface has yellow markings along the sides, but they appear jagged or spotted rather than a defined line.
Picture above taken June 12, 2007
| Twelve-spotted Skimmer | Libellula pulchella | |
|---|---|---|
| Kingdom: | Animalia | Animals |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda | Arthropods |
| Superclass: | Hexapoda | Hexapods |
| Class: | Insecta | Insects |
| Subclass: | Pterygota | Winged Insects |
| Order: | Odonata | Dragonflies and Damselflies |
| Suborder: | Anisoptera | Dragonflies |
| Family: | Libellulidae | Common Skimmers |
| Genus: | Libellula | |
| Species: | pulchella | twelve-spotted skimmer |
Picture above taken June 14, 2007