Needham's skimmer
Libellula needhami
Name means: “named after the American insect scientist James George Needham”
Needham's skimmer is a dragonfly that lives in the warm south of North America. The male has a bright red face, while the female has a brown or yellow face. It zooms over ponds and marshes hunting insects.
Lives in
The USA, Mexico, Cuba and the Bahamas, near ponds and marshes
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. Dragonflies have no sting, so just enjoy watching it.
What does it eat?
It catches flying insects in the air. Its babies live in the water and hunt tiny water animals.
How fast is it?
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
Needham's skimmer about 40 km/h (25 mph)
A car driving in town about 50 km/h (31 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
It looks almost exactly like the golden-winged skimmer, but its back legs are brown, not black.
2
There are plenty of these dragonflies, and their numbers are steady.
3
The front edge of its wing is lighter on the outer half and darker on the inner half.
you asked
Most asked questions about Needham's skimmer
?Is Needham's skimmer dangerous?
No. Dragonflies cannot sting and are harmless to people.
?Where does Needham's skimmer live?
In the USA, Mexico, Cuba and the Bahamas, near water.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Libellula needhami
- Group
- Dragonflies and damselflies
- Family
- Libellulidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Odonata > Libellulidae
- Lives on
- North America
Where the facts come from
- Libellula needhami (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Peter Chen 2.0. CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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