twelve-spotted skimmer
(Libellula pulchella)
Conservation • Description • Habitat • Biology • Distribution • Taxonomy
Conservation Status |
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| IUCN Red List | not listed |
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| NatureServe | N5 - Secure SNR - Unranked |
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| Minnesota | not listed |
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Description |
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The lateral white line on the female abdomen is solid and straight. |
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Size |
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Total length: 2″ to 25 ⁄16″ |
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Similar Species |
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| Common whitetail (Plathemis lydia) lateral white line on the female abdomen is broken and zig-zagged. | ||
Habitat |
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Ponds, marshes, or broad, slow-moving rivers |
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Biology |
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Season |
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Mid-May to mid-August |
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Behavior |
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Life Cycle |
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Naiad Food |
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Small insects, insect larvae, freshwater shrimp, tadpoles, and small fish. |
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Adult Food |
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Small insects |
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Distribution |
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Sources |
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| 6/23/2022 | ||||
Occurrence |
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Common |
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Taxonomy |
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Order |
Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) | ||
Suborder |
Epiprocta | ||
| Infraorder | Anisoptera (dragonflies) | ||
Superfamily |
Libelluloidea |
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Family |
Libellulidae (skimmers) | ||
Genus |
Libellula (king skimmers) | ||
Synonyms |
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Common Names |
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ten-spotter twelve-spot skimmer twelve-spotted skimmer |
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Visitor Photos |
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Share your photo of this insect. |
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Alfredo Colon |
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Greg Watson |
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It was perched on a birdfeeder hoop. |
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Luciearl |
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Gerry Garcia |
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| ...on a hike around Hyland Lake today, we saw this very proud Twelve-spotted Skimmer who “struck a pose” for his close-up. |  |
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Gregg |
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Laura Baxley |
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Dan W. Andree |
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Twelve-spotted Skimmer resting. |
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Bill Reynolds |
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MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos |
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Male |
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Female |
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Slideshows |
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| Twelve Spotted Skimmer DianesDigitals |
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About
Copyright DianesDigitals |
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| Libellula pulchella (Twelve-spotted Skimmer) Allen Chartier |
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| Twelve-spotted Skimmer Victor Fazio |
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| Libellula pulchella (Twelve-Spotted Skimmer) John Clare |
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Visitor Videos |
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Share your video of this insect. |
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| This button not working for you? Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com. Attach a video, a YouTube link, or a cloud storage link. |
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Dan W. Andree |
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| HD Twelve-spotted Skimmer dragonfly Published on Aug 10, 2015 |
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About
A quick and up-close look at Twelve-spotted Skimmer dragonflies filmed along a pond in Norman County, Mn. July/early Aug. 2015. |
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| "Widow and Twelve-spotted Skimmer dragonfly" Published on Aug 11, 2016 |
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About
Two dragonflies somewhat similar in color but quite different overall. This video shows some differences between a Widow and a Twelve-spotted Skimmer. Both were adult males. Somewhat similar in size though the Twelve-spotted is a little larger of the two. |
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Other Videos |
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| Twelve-spotted Skimmer (Libellula pulchella) Wandering Sole TV |
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About
Published on Jul 14, 2013 A Twelve-spotted Skimmer at Surveyors Lake in Kikomun Creek Provincial Park, British Columbia. It was interesting to see the way its abdomen was pulsating. It is sometimes called the Ten-spot Skimmer for the number of white spots on its wings. |
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| Twelve-spotted Skimmer (Libellulidae: Libellula pulchella) Male Carl Barrentine |
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About
Uploaded on Jun 26, 2010 Photographed at the Glacial Ridge NWR, Minnesota (25 June 2010). |
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| Twelve-spotted Skimmer (Libellulidae: Libellula pulchella) Male Carl Barrentine |
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About
Uploaded on Jun 25, 2009 Photographed near Fisher, Minnesota (25 June 2009). |
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| Twelve-spotted Skimmer Stoil Ivanov |
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About
Uploaded on Jul 5, 2011 Twelve-spotted Skimmer (Libellula pulchella) filmed 7-042011 |
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Visitor Sightings |
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Report a sighting of this insect. |
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| This button not working for you? Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com. Be sure to include a location. |
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| A/C Christian
Church of
Minneapolis 7/22/2023 |
Location: Westwood Hills Nature Center At the Westwood Hills Nature Center, we saw some life on July 22 this year. This was all found by the A/C Christian Church of Minneapolis. |
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| Alfredo Colon 8/8/2022 |
Location: Albany, NY |
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| Greg Watson 6/19/2022 |
Location: Apple Blossom Overlook Park |
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| Greg Watson 6/12/2021 |
Location: in my backyard in La Crescent, MN. It was perched on a birdfeeder hoop. |
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| Luciearl 7/18/2020 |
Location: Cass County |
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| Luciearl 7/13/2020 |
Location: Cass County |
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| Gerry Garcia 7/7/2019 |
Location: Hyland Lake Park Reserve |
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| Gregg 6/14/2019 |
Location: North Minneapolis |
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| Alfredo Colon 7/31/2018 |
Location: Woodbury, MN |
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| Laura Baxley 7/11/2018 |
Location: Hole-in-the-Mountain Prairie |
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| Dan W. Andree 2017 |
Location: Near a small stream in an open grassy area next to woodlands in Norman Co. Mn. Twelve-spotted Skimmer resting. |
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| Lucy 6/10/2017 |
Location: St. Wendel, MN I have seen the ebony jewelwing here in St. Wendel, in Stearns county. I plant lots of flowers and we have a variety of habitat , including swampy, low areas, open fields, deciduous and conifers. I've also seen the twelve spotted skimmer. |
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| Bill Reynolds 6/28/2015 |
Location: Pennington Co MN
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MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings |
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Bertram Chain of Lakes Regional Park Carpenter St. Croix Valley Nature Center Felton Prairie SNA, Bicentennial Unit Forestville/Mystery Cave State Park Kellogg Weaver Dunes SNA, Kellogg Weaver Unit Mary Schmidt Crawford Woods SNA Minnesota Valley NWR, Rapids Lake Unit Mound Spring Prairie SNA, North Unit Northern Tallgrass Prairie NWR, Touch the Sky Prairie Unit Prairie Creek WMA, Koester Prairie Unit Robert Ney Memorial Park Reserve Sand Prairie Wildlife Management and Environmental Education Area |
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