Bug FAQScarlet Skimmer
Crocothemis servilia · Order: Odonata · Family: Libellulidae
Also called: Ruddy Marsh Skimmer, Common Scarlet, Crimson Darter, Oriental Scarlet
The Scarlet Skimmer is a medium-sized dragonfly found in east and southeast Asia. Males are bright blood-red with a thin black line on the abdomen, and their eyes are red above and purple on the sides.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Males are blood-red with a thin black dorsal line on the abdomen. Their eyes are red on top and purple on the sides; the thorax is bright ferruginous, often red on the back.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
It is a medium-sized dragonfly.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
It is native to east and southeast Asia.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 4 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Florida, Hawaii, Ohio, Kansas.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: introduced 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/Scarlet_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.