The Purple Skimmer

The purple skimmer hails from Florida, in the United States. They are a member of the skimmer family of dragonflies. These stealthy aerial hunters face the threats of habitat loss and destruction at the hands of residential and commercial developments, dams and other water management; land pollution, in the form of eutrophication (runoff from farming and ranching); water pollution; and climate change, that causes droughts. The IUCN lists these predatory insects as Vulnerable. Their population trend is listed as decreasing.

First the Stats…

Scientific name: Libellula jesseana
Weight: Up to .59 ounce
Length: Up to 2 inches
Wingspan: Up to 4 inches
Lifespan: Up to 1 year

Now on to the Facts!

1.) These dragonflies are protected at Gold Head Branch State Park in Clay County. Most other populations receive no protection at all.

2.) Their preferred habitats are infertile, clear, sandy-bottomed lakes with shoreline stands of maidencane (a species of grass), sedges, and St. John’s worts. The adults require open woodlands or shrub-lands.

3.) Nymphs prey on all kinds of aquatic invertebrates and tadpoles. Adults catch insect prey on the wing (in mid-flight).

4.) Like other dragonflies, they are diurnal (active during the day).

5.) Females lay thousands of eggs in her short lifetime.

But wait, there’s more on the purple skimmer!

6.) These critters can see around 200 images per second (vs. just 60 for humans), perceiving movement in slow motion and allowing them to react in milliseconds.

7.) They have the ability to tilt their heads to judge distance and calculate interception paths for prey.

Did you know…?
Dragonflies have 2 huge compound eyes with up to 30,000 lenses (ommatidia) each, providing nearly 360º vision, plus 3 simple eyes (ocelli) for orientation, allowing them to detect movement, UV light, and polarized light.

8.) The long term population trend expectation for these aerial predators is a decline of up to 70% of the population.

9.) The NatureServe conservation status for this species is Critically Imperiled.

10.) Dragonflies can fly at speeds of up to 35 mph.

Now a Short Purple Skimmer Video!

This video talks about dragonflies in general.

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Some source material acquired from: Wikipedia & IUCN

Photo credit: Laura Gaudette