Subject: Red Dragonfly Identification
Location: Central Florida
August 13, 2017 5:27 pm
Hello,
I spotted this dragonfly in my front yard earlier today. Can you help me identify what species it is please?
Signature: Julie
Dear Julie,
We would gladly defer to anyone with more experience in identifying Dragonflies, but in our opinion, this appears to be a Scarlet Skimmer, Crocothemis servilia, which we found on BugGuide. According to BugGuide: “Native from southern Japan and China to northern Australia. Introduced accidentally to south Florida and to Oahu, Hawai’i” and “Amber patch at the base of each hindwing; black stripe along the dorsal edge of the abdomen.” Alas, the angle of your photographic image is not ideal for verifying the diagnostic features.
Sorry to have found this almost six years too late – this is a male Roseate Skimmer, which often co-occurs with the introduced Scarlet Skimmer in central Florida.