Orthetrum is a large genus of dragonflies in the Libellulidae family.[1] They are commonly referred to as skimmers.
The size of adults within the genus ranges from small to large; in Africa, the hindwing ranges in length from 22 to 50 mm. The bodies of adult females and recently emerged males are yellow to brown with black markings; these may facilitate identification of individuals to species level. Mature males, however, develop blue-grey pruinosity over most of their bodies - this makes species identification difficult without the capture of a specimen and inspection of the shape of the hamule.[2]
The genus Orthetrum includes the following species:[3]
| Scientific name | Common name | IUCN Red List Status | Distribution | Picture (Male) | Picture (Female) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orthetrum abbotti Calvert, 1892 | Abbott's skimmer | Sub-Saharan Africa, Jordan and Yemen.[4] | |||
| Orthetrum africanum (Selys, 1887) | Central and Western Africa[5] | ||||
| Orthetrum albistylum Selys, 1848 | White-tailed skimmer[6] | Europe to China and Japan[7] | |||
| Orthetrum anceps (Schneider, 1845) | [8] | Europe, India, and northern Africa[9] | |||
| Orthetrum angustiventre (Rambur, 1842) | Many-celled skimmer[10] | Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and possibly Tanzania. | |||
| Orthetrum austeni (Kirby, 1900) | Giant skimmer | [11] | Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, and Zambia. | ||
| Orthetrum austrosundanum Lieftinck, 1953 | [12] | ||||
| Orthetrum azureum (Rambur, 1842) | Madagascar | ||||
| Orthetrum balteatum Lieftinck, 1933 | Speckled skimmer[13] | [14] | |||
| Orthetrum borneense Kimmins, 1936 | |||||
| Orthetrum boumiera Watson & Arthington, 1978 | Brownwater skimmer | [15] | |||
| Orthetrum brachiale (Palisot de Beauvois, 1805) | Tough skimmer | [16] | Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Réunion, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, possibly Burundi, and possibly São Tomé and Príncipe | ||
| Orthetrum brunneum (Fonscolombe, 1837) | Southern skimmer | Europe[17] and the range extends to Mongolia and North Africa. | |||
| Orthetrum caffrum (Burmeister, 1839) | Two-striped skimmer, white-lined skimmer | [18] | Angola, Cameroon, Chad, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Guinea, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, possibly Burundi, and possibly Gambia | ||
| Orthetrum caledonicum (Brauer, 1865) | Blue skimmer | [19] | |||
| Orthetrum cancellatum (Linnaeus, 1758) | Black-tailed skimmer | [20] | Albania, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France (Corsica, and mainland), Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkey (Turkey-in-Europe), Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and in part of United Kingdom | ||
| Orthetrum capense Calvert, 1893 | |||||
| Orthetrum chrysis (Selys, 1891) | |||||
| Orthetrum chrysostigma (Burmeister, 1839) | Epaulet skimmer | Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Libya, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe | |||
| Orthetrum coerulescens (Fabricius, 1798) | Keeled skimmer | Afghanistan; Albania; Algeria; Armenia; Austria; Azerbaijan; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Bulgaria; Croatia; Cyprus; Czech Republic; Denmark; Finland; France; Georgia; Greece; Hungary; Iran, Islamic Republic of; Iraq; Ireland; Italy; Lebanon; Liechtenstein; Lithuania; Luxembourg; Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of; Montenegro; Morocco; Netherlands; Norway; Poland; Portugal; Romania; Russian Federation; Serbia; Slovakia; Slovenia; Spain; Sweden; Switzerland; Syrian Arab Republic; Tunisia; Turkey; Ukraine; United Kingdom. | |||
| Orthetrum glaucum (Brauer, 1865) | Blue marsh hawk | [21] | tropical and subtropical Asia | ||
| Orthetrum guineense Ris, 1909 | Guinea skimmer | [22] | Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and possibly Burundi | ||
| Orthetrum guptai Baijal, 1955 | |||||
| Orthetrum helena Buchholz, 1954 | |||||
| Orthetrum hintzi Schmidt, 1951 | Hintz's skimmer | [23] | Angola, Benin, Botswana, Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and possibly Burundi | ||
| Orthetrum icteromelas Ris, 1910 | Spectacled skimmer | [24] | Angola, Botswana, Cameroon, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and possibly Burundi | ||
| Orthetrum japonicum (Uhler, 1858) | Taiwan-shioya-tombo | [25] | |||
| Orthetrum julia Kirby, 1900 | Julia skimmer | [26] | Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, possibly Burundi, and possibly Madagascar | ||
| Orthetrum kollmannspergeri Buchholz, 1959 | |||||
| Orthetrum kristenseni Ris, 1911 | Ethiopia | ||||
| Orthetrum latihami Pinhey, 1966 | Central Africa | ||||
| Orthetrum lemur Ris, 1909 | |||||
| Orthetrum lineostigma (Selys, 1886) | |||||
| Orthetrum luzonicum (Brauer, 1868) | |||||
| Orthetrum machadoi Longfield, 1955 | Machado's skimmer | [27] | Angola, Botswana, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and possibly Burundi | ||
| Orthetrum macrostigma Longfield, 1947 | Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique, and possibly Zambia | ||||
| Orthetrum malgassicum Pinhey, 1970 | |||||
| Orthetrum martensi Asahina, 1978 | |||||
| Orthetrum melania (Selys, 1883) | |||||
| Orthetrum microstigma Ris, 1911 | Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia | ||||
| Orthetrum migratum Lieftinck, 1951 | Rosy skimmer | [28] | |||
| Orthetrum monardi Schmidt, 1951 | Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia | ||||
| Orthetrum nitidinerve (Selys, 1841) | Yellow-veined skimmer | ||||
| Orthetrum poecilops Ris, 1916 | Mangrove skimmer | [29] | |||
| Orthetrum pruinosum (Burmeister, 1839) | Crimson-tailed marsh hawk | [30] | |||
| Orthetrum ransonnetii (Brauer, 1865) | Desert skimmer | Western Sahara, Sudan, Niger, Chad, Algeria, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Oman, United Arab Emirates | |||
| Orthetrum robustum Balinsky, 1965 | Robust skimmer | [31] | |||
| Orthetrum rubens Barnard, 1937 | Elusive skimmer | [32] | South Africa | ||
| Orthetrum sabina (Drury, 1770) | Slender skimmer | ||||
| Orthetrum saegeri Pinhey, 1966 | Cameroon, Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gambia, Togo, Uganda, and Zambia | ||||
| Orthetrum sagitta Ris, 1915 | Arrow skimmer | [33] | Sierra Leone | ||
| Orthetrum serapia Watson, 1984 | Green skimmer | ||||
| Orthetrum signiferum Lieftinck, 1926 | |||||
| Orthetrum silvarum Lieftinck, 1934 | |||||
| Orthetrum stemmale (Burmeister, 1839) | Stemmale skimmer | [34] | Angola, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and possibly Burundi | ||
| Orthetrum taeniolatum (Schneider, 1845) | Small skimmer | [35] | |||
| Orthetrum testaceum (Burmeister, 1839) | India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.[36] | ||||
| Orthetrum translatum Bartenev, 1929 | |||||
| Orthetrum triangulare (Selys, 1878) | Blue-tailed forest hawk[37] | [38] | |||
| Orthetrum trinacria (Selys, 1841) | Long skimmer | Algeria, Angola, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Ethiopia, France (Corsica), Gambia, Ghana, Italy (Sicily and Sardinia), Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and possibly Burundi | |||
| Orthetrum villosovittatum (Brauer, 1868) | Fiery skimmer | [39] | |||