Pied paddy skimmer
Male Pied paddy skimmers are steely black winged, but females are greenish yellow with amber wings, so different that the two sexes are often mistaken for separate species.
| Where | Marshes, ponds and rice fields |
|---|---|
| Size | 16 to 20 mm abdomen length |
| When | March to January |
The Pied paddy skimmer is one of the smallest dragonflies in the region, and the sexes look strikingly different. Males are black bodied with a pale yellow stripe down the thorax, and the basal half of each wing is opaque steely blue black bordered by a milky white band, the outer half clear. Females are greenish yellow with amber tinted wing bases and broad dark brown wingtips.
It breeds in marshes, ponds, lakes and rice fields, perches close to the ground on twigs and low plants, and has a notably weak, fluttering flight compared to most other dragonflies.
Traits
Habitat
Wetland
Colour
Black, White, Yellow
Active
Day
To people
Harmless to handle; a weak flier that perches close to the ground.
Activity through the year
Often confused with
Male Common parasols are dark red bodied with clear wings and only a white wingtip mark, quite unlike the black and steely blue winged males of the Pied paddy skimmer.
Questions
Is the Pied paddy skimmer dangerous to people?
Harmless to handle; a weak flier that perches close to the ground.
When can you see the Pied paddy skimmer?
The Pied paddy skimmer can be seen from March to January, by day.
Plate retouched from a photo by Rejoice Gassah, CC BY 4.0, iNaturalist Licence
Report a mistake in this entry
Dragonflies and damselflies›Skimmers›Neurothemis
Last updated 2026-09-27. Every entry is checked against published sources.