Scarlet Skimmer

Fascinating facts about the Scarlet Skimmer

• It is a medium sized dragonfly whose male shines blood-red with a thin black line along the mid-dorsal abdomen, eyes blood-red above and purple on the sides, and a bright ferruginous thorax often blood-red on the dorsum. Females look alike but wear olivaceous-brown bodies and a rather broad black mid-dorsal carina. Two subspecies exist, C. s. servilia described by Drury in 1773 and C. s. mariannae named by Kiauta in 1983, while the latter lacks the mid-dorsal black stripe. They breed in ponds, ditches, marshes, open swamps and rice fields across east and southeast Asia.
• The scarlet skimmer has expanded its range far beyond its native east and southeast Asian distribution, now establishing populations on three distant islands and states. It was deliberately or accidentally introduced to Jamaica in the Caribbean, to the state of Florida in the United States, and to the Hawaiian archipelago.
• Males flash a vivid blood-red body crossed by a thin black line along the abdomen. Its eyes are blood-red above and purple laterally.
• The scarlet skimmer reproduces in a variety of standing-water environments, not limiting itself to a single type of site. It will lay its eggs in natural ponds as well as artificial ditches that hold water long enough for larvae to develop. Open swamps and cultivated rice fields also serve as breeding grounds, providing the shallow, vegetated water it requires.

Sources

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• Wikipedia

At a glance

About the Scarlet Skimmer

As the sun beats down upon the tranquil waters, a fleck of iridescent crimson darts across the surface, the Scarlet Skimmer dragonfly dancing on delicate wings, its agile form weaving a mesmerizing trail of light and shadow. With each precise, economical beat, it propels itself through the air, a master of effortless flight, its large, gem-like eyes drinking in the world with an unblinking intensity. In its realm of watery reflections and shimmering heat haze, the Scarlet Skimmer reigns supreme, a whirling, scarlet embodiment of the very essence of summer itself.

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