''Orthetrum'' is a large genus of
dragonflies
A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of dragonflies are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threate ...
in the
Libellulidae
The chasers, darters, skimmers, and perchers and their relatives form the Libellulidae, the largest family of dragonflies. It is sometimes considered to contain the Corduliidae as the subfamily Corduliinae and the Macromiidae as the subfamily M ...
family.
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.
Species
The genus ''Orthetrum'' includes the following species:
Notes
References
External links
{{Taxonbar, from=Q883016
Libellulidae
Anisoptera genera
Odonata of Africa
Odonata of Asia
Odonata of Australia
Taxa named by Edward Newman