Julia Skimmer

Orthetrum julia · Order: Odonata · Family: Libellulidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Julia Skimmer
Photo: Chris Vynbos, CC BY-SA

Julia Skimmer lives in moist lowland forests, rivers and freshwater springs in the tropics. It is found across many African countries, from Angola and Kenya to South Africa and possibly Madagascar. In southeastern Africa it can be confused with Orthetrum stemmale, which differs in wing details.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

It occurs in many African nations, including Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Kenya, South Africa and others, and may also be present in Burundi and Madagascar.

Source: Wikipedia

Lookalikes

Orthetrum stemmale looks similar to Julia Skimmer in southeastern Africa, but can be told apart by wing patterns.

Source: Wikipedia

More photos

Same family (Libellulidae)

Sources

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

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · 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.