Widow Skimmer

Libellula luctuosa (males) in Ontario

Libellula luctuosa is a widespread in North America up to the Great Plains of dragonfly of the family sailing dragonflies.

Features

Construction of Imago

The animal reaches a length of 38-50 mm, which makes the abdomen 24 to 32 mm.

The front head is pale yellow in females and young males, but especially in the males darkens with age to black. The Pterothorax apart from a narrow yellow stripe at the level of the spine dark brown. The color changes here with age in females to be filled in for Brown and for the males to black and then to angestaubtem blue. The pages are bright yellow with a dark line drawn unclean on the third segment. Again found here with age, a change takes place, the patterning of this region disappears in the females and in the males there is set a darker shade of brown. The tips of the wings have, in particular in females and Western representatives in part, to the shade. The wings reach a length of 33 to 42 mm. The pale yellow abdomen with broad black stripes is only lightly pressed and tapers to the rear. As the thorax is colored with age, the abdomen in a aschblauen shade. The legs are black.

Flight Times

The flight times are from mid-April to late November.

Scientific names

The first description took Burmeister 1839 based on a male from Pennsylvania under the name Libelula luctuosa ago. This holotype is in the summer 's Collection. That same year Thomas Say the following description of the animal:

L. basalis Wings fuscous on behalf of the basal half. Inhabits U.S. ♂ Body brownish -black; head immaculate, dark bluish; wings dark fuliginous opaque, on the basal half, beyond Which is a broad, milk-white, almost opaque, band; stigma blackish; abdomen somewhat depressed, of equal diameter nearly to the tip dusky, with a laterally dull yellowish vitta; beneath black- brown. Length nearly two inches.

1861 Hagen put before a description of a male from Texas under the name Libellula odiosa. The synonymy recognized in 1910 Muttowski.

Protection status

Libellula luctuosa has the protection status G5, so it is classified as occurring in high numbers, very widespread and unthreatened kind in the world. This status they received on 30 December 1985. In the U.S. and Canada has the N5 national equivalent protection status. Even at the level of many states in the U.S. and Canada a protection status was awarded. These are shown in the graph on the right.