Great blue skimmer
Mature male Great blue skimmers turn a chalky blue with a bright white face, while females and young males stay brown with a dark-striped yellow abdomen.
| Where | Swamp pools, ponds and slow streams |
|---|---|
| Size | 56 to 64 mm body length |
| When | April to September |
The Great blue skimmer is a large, long-winged dragonfly. Immatures and females have red-brown eyes, a grayish thorax and a yellow abdomen marked with a black stripe down the middle, plus dark patches at the wingtips. As males mature they turn blue on the eyes, thorax and abdomen, keeping a face that stays bright white at every age, which sets them apart from other dark blue skimmers.
It breeds in shaded swamp pools, slow forest streams and woodland ponds, where the aquatic larvae develop. Adults often perch on low vegetation well away from water, and females lay eggs by dipping the abdomen to flick water and eggs onto the shoreline.
Traits
Habitat
Wetland
Colour
Blue, Brown
Active
Day
To people
Safe to handle; it does not sting or bite people.
Activity through the year
Often confused with
A similarly large, dark skimmer, but its face keeps some tan or dark markings at every age instead of staying bright white, and it is slightly smaller with darker upper legs.
Questions
Is the Great blue skimmer dangerous to people?
Safe to handle; it does not sting or bite people.
When can you see the Great blue skimmer?
The Great blue skimmer can be seen from April to September, by day.
Plate retouched from a photo by northerly, CC BY 4.0, iNaturalist Licence
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Dragonflies and damselflies›Skimmers›Libellula
Last updated 2026-09-27. Every entry is checked against published sources.