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Libellula vibrans Fabricius, 1793
Great Blue Skimmer
Florida native
Found mainly in swamp pools and slow moving forest streams in nearly all of Florida except the southern peninsula. The range is primarily the coastal states from Texas to Maine. Found less frequently inland as far west as Oklahoma and Kansas and as far north as Wisconsin, Michigan & Ontario.
This is Florida's largest skimmer and all stages and sexes have a white face, black wingtips, stigmas and a narrow streak at the base of the wings. Juveniles have reddish-brown eyes which become blue as both sexes mature. In juveniles the thorax is brown in front and the sides are pale gray. The abdomen is yellow with a black dorsal (on top) stripe. In mature females the abdomen becomes brown. In mature males, the abdomen is a pale dusky (pruinose) blue.
Libellula vibrans is a member of the Libellulidae - Skimmers family.
Other species of the Libellula genus in the Wild Florida Photo database:
Libellula auripennis - GOLDEN-WINGED SKIMMER
Libellula axilena - BAR-WINGED SKIMMER
Libellula incesta - SLATY SKIMMER
Libellula needhami - NEEDHAM'S SKIMMER
iNaturalist profile for this species
For more information on this species, visit the following link:
Bugguide.net info page for this species
Date record last modified: Jul 07, 2024
