Widow skimmer

Widow skimmer
adult male, Ottawa, Ontario
adult female
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Odonata
Suborder: Anisoptera
Family: Libellulidae
Genus: Libellula
Species: L. luctuosa
Binomial name
Libellula luctuosa
Burmeister, 1839

The Widow Skimmer (Libellula luctuosa) is one of the group of dragonflies known as king skimmers. The species can be found commonly across much of the United States (except in the higher Rocky Mountains areas) and in southern Ontario and Quebec.[1] Adults have a steely blue body area but juveniles are yellow with brown stipes.[2] Wings of both sexes are marked with prominent black basal bands. Adult males develop broad white spots at midwing. They also have a slight white hue on their abdomen and thorax. The nymphs live in the water, molting and growing until they are ready to emerge from the water and then molting a final time to reveal their wings.

juvenile male

References

  1. Mead, Kurt. 2009. Dragonflies of the North Woods, Duluth:Kollath+Stensaas.
  2. Dunkle, S.W. 2000. Dragonflies through Binoculars, Toronto:Oxford University press.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Libellula luctuosa.
External identifiers for Libellula luctuosa
Encyclopedia of Life 131398
Also found in: Wikispecies


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, November 13, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.