Keeled skimmer facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Keeled skimmer |
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| Mature male, Cyprus | |
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| Female, Porto Covo, Portugal | |
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Libellula donovani Leach, 1815
Libellula dubia Rambur, 1842 Libellula olympia Fonscolombe, 1837 Libellula opalina Charpentier, 1825 Orthetrum helena Buchholtz, 1954 Orthetrum ramburii (Sélys, 1848) |
The keeled skimmer (Orthetrum coerulescens) is a type of dragonfly. It belongs to a group of dragonflies called the Libellulidae family. These dragonflies are known for their beautiful colors and fast, darting flight.
Contents
Where They Live
Keeled skimmers are often found in central and southern Europe. You can also see them in some parts of Russia and North Africa. They are quite common in western Britain and Ireland.
These dragonflies live in many countries. This includes places like France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom. They are also found in parts of the Middle East and North Africa.
Their Home (Habitat)
Keeled skimmers love to live near water. Their favorite places are pools and streams in areas with acidic heath land. Heath land is an open area with low-growing shrubs. The water here is often a bit acidic.
You might see them in wet heathland sites. They like both small pools and flowing streams. Sometimes, they share their home with other dragonflies, like the golden-ringed dragonfly.
What They Look Like
Keeled skimmers are medium-sized dragonflies. They can grow to be about 40 to 44 millimeters long. That's about the length of four small paper clips!
Body Features
- Thorax: This is the middle part of their body. It has pale yellow stripes on it. In older males, these stripes might fade away.
- Abdomen: This is the long, tail-like part. It's quite slim and has a clear ridge, or "keel," along the top.
- Eyes: Males have blue-grey eyes.
- Color: As males get older, their abdomen turns a lovely blue-grey color. This is called "pruinescence." Young males are usually yellow-brown.
Female Dragonflies
Female keeled skimmers are mostly yellowish-brown. They have a thin black line down the middle of their abdomen. They also have small black lines where the different parts of their abdomen connect.
Some older females can even change color! They might turn bluish, looking a lot like the males. This is a special kind of mimicry.
Wings
Their wings are clear, which means "hyaline." The front edge of their wings, called the "costa," is yellow. They also have a long, yellowish-brown spot on their wings called a pterostigma. This spot is about 4 millimeters long. When they rest, keeled skimmers usually hold their wings forward.
How They Compare to Others
The keeled skimmer looks a bit like the black-tailed skimmer. But the keeled skimmer is smaller and slimmer. Also, the male keeled skimmer does not have a black tip on its abdomen, which the black-tailed skimmer does. Young males and females do not have the black patterns that are seen on the abdomen of other similar dragonflies.
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A young male keeled skimmer
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An almost grown-up male
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A mature female
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An androchrome female, looking like a male
Life Cycle and Behavior
Adult keeled skimmers fly from June to September in places like the UK. Their flight is a bit jumpy or "skittish." They often hover in the air and land frequently. Even though their flight seems weak, they can fly quite far from water. When they land, they hold their wings forward.
Reproduction
These dragonflies mainly breed in peat bogs. Peat bogs are wetlands where dead plants build up over time. The baby dragonflies, called larvae, grow in water. They can live in running water or still water, like ponds and peat bogs.
After about five to six weeks, the eggs hatch into larvae. It takes about two years for the larvae to grow and become adult dragonflies.
See also
- List of British dragonflies
