North America
Description: This large red skimmer is a striking and distinctive species. It is often among the most common and conspicuous species where it occurs, skimming over open water or lawns or even parking lots and perching in prominent spots.
Male: An orange to red species of the southwest with a light brown face in young individuals that quickly becomes bright red with age. The stocky thorax and abdomen are brick red and lack any distinctive markings. The wings have red/orange veins and an amber patch that generally extends out to the nodus (the “bend” of the wing) and generally this amber area has a roughly square outer limit, parallel to the body. There is a darker brown stripe midbasally in the hindwing. The legs are red with black spurs. The caudal appendages are red and segment 8 in the female is expanded laterally.
Tenerals and females are much like males but with less intense coloration with a orange/red replaced by dull reddish-orange or reddish-tan.
Size: Total length: 52-60 mm; abdomen: 32-40 mm; hindwing: 41-45 mm.
Similar Species (United States and Canada): Neon Skimmer (L. croceipennis) may appear about the same size, slightly larger or slightly smaller than Flame Skimmer in the field. Where Neon occurs they often occur together and when they do the more intense color of Neon is often apparent. Male Neon Skimmer tends to have higher contrast between a "neon" red/fuchsia abdomen and a more tan or amber-red thorax and head; whereas Flame Skimmer tends to be more uniform orange/amber overall.
The amber color in the wings of Flame Skimmer (L. saturata) is more extensive than on Neon Skimmer extending beyond the nodus; this colored area also angles back toward the body in Neon rather than parallel to the body as in Flame Skimmer. Neon Skimmer lacks the darker dash at the base of the hindwing (a brown stripe covering the midbasal space.) Both male and female Flame Skimmer show a contrasting yellowish subcosta (the middle of the three big veins on the inner part of the leading edge of the forewing), whereas the veins on the Neon Skimmer are quite uniformly colored; this mark is often quite obvious in the field. Male Neon Skimmer often shows a very dark or blackish stigma, which is normally orange in male Flame Skimmer.
Mayan Setwing (Dythemis maya) has a much more slender body.
Golden-winged (L. auripennis) and Needham's Skimmer (L. needhami) have a black middorsal stripe running down the abdomen.
Female and young Roseate (Orthemis ferruginea) and Orange-bellied (O. discolor) Skimmers both have lateral thoracic markings.
Habitat: Ponds, lakes and slow streams, including artificial ponds. This species also ranges out into lawns, openings in forest and even parking lots far from water.
Natural History: This conspicuous dragonfly commands the notice of even the most casual observer. Males are found searching long stretches of streams for potential mates or they are seen perched on tall vegetation near the ponds and pools used by females for egg laying. Males will warn off intruders by flying towards and then along with them in an ascending flight with only one male returning to the perch. Females lay eggs in a similar manner to Neon Skimmer, by throwing water along with the eggs towards the shore. Males will guard females from a perch for only a short time after mating in flight. Males tend to occur at areas along streams where receptive females are likely to visit, both seasonally and during the course of the day. Both of these observations indicate male mate-searching patterns in this species are sexually selected.
Distribution: Western U.S. and Mexico.
Credits
Based on John Abbott’s OdonataCentral’s ID page.
Formatted and modified by David Bell
Reviewed by John C. Abbott
Edited by David Bell (7/16/2016)
