Dark-tipped forest-skimmer
Males guard a single small forest pool or mud hole for hours at a time, while the much scarcer females tend to stay higher up in the canopy.
| Where | Forest pools and shaded streams |
|---|---|
| Size | 46 to 51 mm body length |
| When | January to December |
The dark-tipped forest-skimmer is a moderately large dragonfly. Males have a metallic green thorax, a dark blue abdomen with pale blue bands near its base, and wingtips smudged with black that give the species its common name; females share the metallic sheen but lack the blue abdominal bands.
It breeds in small pools and ditches along shaded forest trails, where males defend a chosen mud hole for long periods against rivals. Females are seen far less often than males and tend to perch higher up among the trees rather than at the water's edge.
Traits
Habitat
Woodland
Colour
Metallic, Blue, Black
Active
Day
To people
Not aggressive toward people; males spend most of their time guarding small forest pools rather than approaching passers by.
Activity through the year
Often confused with
A closely related and very similar forest species, separated by its bronze black thorax marked with yellow rather than plain metallic green, and a black abdomen marked with bright ochreous yellow rather than metallic blue.
Questions
Is the Dark-tipped forest-skimmer dangerous to people?
Not aggressive toward people; males spend most of their time guarding small forest pools rather than approaching passers by.
When can you see the Dark-tipped forest-skimmer?
The Dark-tipped forest-skimmer can be seen from January to December, by day.
Plate retouched from a museum specimen photo by Auckland War Memorial Museum, CC BY 4.0, GBIF Licence
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Dragonflies and damselflies›Skimmers›Cratilla
Last updated 2026-09-27. Every entry is checked against published sources.