Flame skimmer
The flame skimmer is a dragonfly that looks like it is on fire. The boy is red or dark orange all over, even his eyes, legs and the veins in his wings. The girl is brown with thin yellow marks. It loves warm ponds, streams and even hot springs.
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Fun facts
Its babies, called nymphs, are big, chubby and hairy, and unlike most baby dragonflies they have no hooks or spines.
A nymph hunts by sitting very still in the mud and waiting for food to swim past.
The mother lays her eggs in many different places, so her babies do not end up eating each other.
It is also happy to live in backyard ponds and public gardens.
Most asked questions about Flame skimmer
?Why is it called a flame skimmer?
Because the boy is bright red or orange all over, like a flame.
?What does a flame skimmer eat?
Grown-ups catch soft insects like moths, flies and ants. The babies in the water eat mosquito larvae, tadpoles and small fish.
?How big is a flame skimmer?
It is about 5 to 7,5 centimetres long.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Libellula saturata
- Group
- Dragonflies and damselflies
- Family
- Libellulidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Odonata > Libellulidae
- Lives on
- North America
- Also known as
- Firecracker skimmer
Where the facts come from
- Flame skimmer (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 Regular Daddy. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at hello@bugwiki.app and we will fix it.
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