Golden-winged Skimmer

Libellula auripennis · Order: Odonata · Family: Libellulidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Golden-winged Skimmer
Photo: Mike Ostrowski, CC BY-SA

The golden-winged skimmer is a type of skimmer dragonfly (Libellula auripennis). It lives in North America.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

Libellula auripennis is the scientific name for the golden-winged skimmer.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

The species is found in North America.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 30 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Florida, Texas, Georgia, New Jersey, North Carolina, Louisiana, Massachusetts, South Carolina.

Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.

Source: GBIF

Status: native in North America; native in United States. Source: iNaturalist

Months it is reported in the US

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Source: GBIF

More photos

Golden-winged Skimmer photo 3
Photo: psweet, CC BY-SA
Golden-winged Skimmer photo 4
Photo: Michael J. Papay, CC BY
Golden-winged Skimmer photo 5
Photo: unknown, CC0
Golden-winged Skimmer photo 6
Photo: unknown, CC0

Same family (Libellulidae)

Blue DasherBlue DasherPachydiplax longipennisEastern PondhawkEastern PondhawkErythemis simplicicollisCommon WhitetailCommon WhitetailPlathemis lydiaWidow SkimmerWidow SkimmerLibellula luctuosaAutumn MeadowhawkAutumn MeadowhawkSympetrum vicinumCommon DarterCommon DarterSympetrum striolatum

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libellula_auripennis

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.