Southern skimmer
Mature males turn almost entirely powder blue down to the face, while females and young males stay yellowish brown their whole lives.
| Where | Warm streams and irrigation ditches |
|---|---|
| Size | 66 to 70 mm wingspan |
| When | May to August |
The southern skimmer is a medium sized dragonfly with a body around 40 to 45 mm long. Mature males develop a pale blue, powdery bloom over the thorax and abdomen and a whitish blue face, while females and immature males stay yellowish to greyish brown with a dark mid-line down a flattened abdomen; the clear wings carry a pale brown to yellow wing spot.
It breeds in small, sun warmed streams, canals, and irrigation ditches with shallow water, where adults perch on bare ground or low stones at the water's edge and dart out to catch mosquitoes, flies, and other small insects.
Traits
Habitat
Wetland
Colour
Blue, Brown, Grey
Active
Day
To people
It does not bite or sting people; it is mostly noticed perched on stones or bare banks near slow moving water.
Activity through the year
Often confused with
The keeled skimmer is slightly smaller, with a body length of about 40 to 44 mm against 40 to 45 mm in the southern skimmer, and mature males have a brown face rather than the southern skimmer's pale blue one.
Questions
Is the Southern skimmer dangerous to people?
It does not bite or sting people; it is mostly noticed perched on stones or bare banks near slow moving water.
When can you see the Southern skimmer?
The Southern skimmer can be seen from May to August, by day.
Plate retouched from a photo by Charles J. Sharp, CC BY‑SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons Licence
The plate on this page is shared under the same licence as its source, CC BY-SA.
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Dragonflies and damselflies›Skimmers›Orthetrum
Last updated 2026-09-26. Every entry is checked against published sources.