Dragonflies & DamselfliesDragonfly or Damselfly? Sex Lives and Dragonflies Damselflies Diplacodes haematodes Diplacodes melanopsis (Black-faced Percher) Hemicordulia tau Orthetrum caledonicum Orthetrum migratum Orthetrum villosovittatum

An Australian freshwater dragonfly species Orthertum migratum, commonly called Rosy Skimmers. Often found around streams, boggy seepages, riverine pools and swamps across northern parts of Australia. There is also a sighting in Central Australia.

Rosy Skimmers (Orthertum migratum), Mareeba FNQ © Sheena Shepherd
Rosy Skimmers (Orthetrum migratum), Mareeba FNQ © Sheena Shepherd

The Rosy Skimmer (Orthetrum migratum) is a medium-sized dragonfly. The body can also be yellow-green or grey-brown to dark blue. The male and female differ in the colour of the abdomen, in that the male is red and evenly tapered, while the abdomen of a female is yellow-green-brown in colour.

Rosy Skimmers (Orthertum migratum), Mareeba FNQ © Sheena Shepherd
Mating Rosy Skimmers (Orthetrum migratum), Mareeba FNQ © Sheena Shepherd
Rosy Skimmers (Orthertum migratum), Mareeba FNQ © Sheena Shepherd
Mating Rosy Skimmers (Orthetrum migratum), Mareeba FNQ © Sheena Shepherd

Following is a immature male Orthetrum migratum photographed on a roadside pond at Mulligan Hwy, just south of Maitland Downs Airport, Queensland.

Immature male Orthetrum migratum, Maitland Downs QLD © Erland Refling Nielsen
Immature male Orthetrum migratum, Maitland Downs QLD © Erland Refling Nielsen
  • Scientific classification
  • Kingdom: Animalia
  • Phylum: Arthropoda
  • Class: Insecta
  • Informal: Pterygotes
  • Order: Odonata
  • Suborder: Anisoptera
  • Superfamily: Libelluloidea
  • Family: Libellulidae
  • Genus: Orthetrum
  • Species: Orthetrum migratum

Footnote & References

  1. Rosy Skimmers (Orthertum migratum), Photos © Sheena Shepherd
  2. erlandreflingnielsen’s Life List – Dragonflies and Damselflies, Erland Refling Nielsen, iNaturalist, https://www.inaturalist.org/lifelists/erlandreflingnielsen?taxon_id=47792
  3. Australian Dragonflies and Damselflies Facebook group – many thanks to Chris Burwell and Jeff Melvaine for input into the ID, https://www.facebook.com/groups/Ozdragonflies/
  4. Orthetrum migratum Lieftinck, 1951, Atlas of Living Australia, https://bie.ala.org.au/species/Orthetrum migratum
  5. Rosy Skimmer (Orthetrum migratum), iNaturalistAU, https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/taxa/107968-Orthetrum-migratum

Dragonflies & DamselfliesDragonfly or Damselfly? Sex Lives and Dragonflies Damselflies Diplacodes haematodes Diplacodes melanopsis (Black-faced Percher) Hemicordulia tau Orthetrum caledonicum Orthetrum migratum Orthetrum villosovittatum

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