Bug FAQGreat Blue Skimmer
Libellula vibrans · Order: Odonata · Family: Libellulidae
The Great Blue Skimmer is a large dragonfly, measuring about 50 to 63 mm in length (2.0 to 2.5 in). Young individuals are brown, while adults display a blue hue. It lives near lakes, ponds, and slow-moving streams in the eastern United States and is rarely found in southern Ontario.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Immature skimmers are brown; mature ones are blue-hued.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Total length ranges from 50 to 63 mm (2.0 to 2.5 in), making it one of the largest skimmers.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Its range includes the eastern United States and occasional records from southern Ontario.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 35 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Texas, Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, New Jersey, Maryland, Louisiana, South Carolina.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in Canada; native in United States. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Same family (Libellulidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_blue_skimmer
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.