Orthetrum

Orthetrum is a large genus of dragonflies in the Libellulidae family.^[2] They are commonly referred to as skimmers.

Skimmers
Female Orthetrum chrysostigma
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Odonata
Infraorder:	Anisoptera
Family:	Libellulidae
Subfamily:	Libellulinae
Genus:	Orthetrum Newman, 1833[1]

The size of adults within the genus ranges from small to large; in Africa, the hindwing ranges in length from 22 to 50 mm. The bodies of adult females and recently emerged males are yellow to brown with black markings; these may facilitate identification of individuals to species level. Mature males, however, develop blue-grey pruinosity over most of their bodies - this makes species identification difficult without the capture of a specimen and inspection of the shape of the hamule.^[3]

Species

The genus Orthetrum includes the following species:^[4]

Scientific name[a]	Common name	IUCN Red List Status	Distribution	Picture (Male)	Picture (Female)
Orthetrum abbotti Calvert, 1892	Abbott's skimmer	LC IUCN	Sub-Saharan Africa, Jordan and Yemen.[5]
Orthetrum africanum (Selys, 1887)		LC IUCN	Central and Western Africa[6]
Orthetrum albistylum Selys, 1848	White-tailed skimmer[7]	LC IUCN	Europe to China and Japan[8]
Orthetrum anceps (Schneider, 1845)		LC [9]	Europe, India, and northern Africa[10]
Orthetrum angustiventre (Rambur, 1842)	Many-celled skimmer[11]	LC IUCN	Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and possibly Tanzania.
Orthetrum austeni (Kirby, 1900)	Giant skimmer	LC IUCN[12]	Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, and Zambia.
Orthetrum austrosundanum Lieftinck, 1953		VU[13]
Orthetrum azureum (Rambur, 1842)		LC	Madagascar
Orthetrum balteatum Lieftinck, 1933	Speckled skimmer[14]	NT IUCN[15]
Orthetrum borneense Kimmins, 1936		DD IUCN
Orthetrum boumiera Watson & Arthington, 1978	Brownwater skimmer	NT IUCN[16]
Orthetrum brachiale (Palisot de Beauvois, 1805)	Tough skimmer	LC IUCN[17]	Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Réunion, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, possibly Burundi, and possibly São Tomé and Príncipe
Orthetrum brunneum (Fonscolombe, 1837)	Southern skimmer	LC IUCN	Europe[18] and the range extends to Mongolia and North Africa.
Orthetrum caffrum (Burmeister, 1839)	Two-striped skimmer, white-lined skimmer	LC IUCN[19]	Angola, Cameroon, Chad, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Guinea, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, possibly Burundi, and possibly Gambia
Orthetrum caledonicum (Brauer, 1865)	Blue skimmer	LC[20]
Orthetrum cancellatum (Linnaeus, 1758)	Black-tailed skimmer	LC[21]	Albania, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France (Corsica, and mainland), Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkey (Turkey-in-Europe), Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and in part of United Kingdom
Orthetrum capense Calvert, 1893		LC
Orthetrum chrysis (Selys, 1891)		LC
Orthetrum chrysostigma (Burmeister, 1839)	Epaulet skimmer	LC	Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Libya, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Orthetrum coerulescens (Fabricius, 1798)	Keeled skimmer	LC	Afghanistan; Albania; Algeria; Armenia; Austria; Azerbaijan; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Bulgaria; Croatia; Cyprus; Czech Republic; Denmark; Finland; France; Georgia; Greece; Hungary; Iran, Islamic Republic of; Iraq; Ireland; Italy; Lebanon; Liechtenstein; Lithuania; Luxembourg; Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of; Montenegro; Morocco; Netherlands; Norway; Poland; Portugal; Romania; Russian Federation; Serbia; Slovakia; Slovenia; Spain; Sweden; Switzerland; Syrian Arab Republic; Tunisia; Turkey; Ukraine; United Kingdom.
Orthetrum glaucum (Brauer, 1865)	Blue marsh hawk	LC IUCN[22]	tropical and subtropical Asia
Orthetrum guineense Ris, 1909	Guinea skimmer	LC IUCN[23]	Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and possibly Burundi
Orthetrum guptai Baijal, 1955		LC
Orthetrum helena Buchholz, 1954		LC
Orthetrum hintzi Schmidt, 1951	Hintz's skimmer	LC IUCN[24]	Angola, Benin, Botswana, Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and possibly Burundi
Orthetrum icteromelas Ris, 1910	Spectacled skimmer	LC IUCN[25]	Angola, Botswana, Cameroon, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and possibly Burundi
Orthetrum japonicum (Uhler, 1858)	Taiwan-shioya-tombo	LC[26]
Orthetrum julia Kirby, 1900	Julia skimmer	LC IUCN[27]	Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, possibly Burundi, and possibly Madagascar
Orthetrum kollmannspergeri Buchholz, 1959		LC IUCN
Orthetrum kristenseni Ris, 1911		LC IUCN	Ethiopia
Orthetrum latihami Pinhey, 1966		LC IUCN	Central Africa
Orthetrum lemur Ris, 1909		LC IUCN
Orthetrum lineostigma (Selys, 1886)		LC IUCN
Orthetrum luzonicum (Brauer, 1868)		LC IUCN
Orthetrum machadoi Longfield, 1955	Machado's skimmer	LC IUCN[28]	Angola, Botswana, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and possibly Burundi
Orthetrum macrostigma Longfield, 1947		LC	Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique, and possibly Zambia
Orthetrum malgassicum Pinhey, 1970		LC
Orthetrum martensi Asahina, 1978		LC
Orthetrum melania (Selys, 1883)		LC
Orthetrum microstigma Ris, 1911		LC	Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia
Orthetrum migratum Lieftinck, 1951	Rosy skimmer	LC IUCN[29]
Orthetrum monardi Schmidt, 1951		LC	Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia
Orthetrum nitidinerve (Selys, 1841)	Yellow-veined skimmer	LC	North Africa, the Iberian Peninsula, Sardinia, Naples and Sicily
Orthetrum poecilops Ris, 1916	Mangrove skimmer	VU[30]
Orthetrum pruinosum (Burmeister, 1839)	Crimson-tailed marsh hawk	LC[31]
Orthetrum ransonnetii (Brauer, 1865)	Desert skimmer	LC	Western Sahara, Sudan, Niger, Chad, Algeria, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Oman, United Arab Emirates
Orthetrum robustum Balinsky, 1965	Robust skimmer	LC[32]
Orthetrum rubens Barnard, 1937	Elusive skimmer	CR IUCN[33]	South Africa
Orthetrum sabina (Drury, 1770)	Slender skimmer	LC
Orthetrum saegeri Pinhey, 1966		LC	Cameroon, Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gambia, Togo, Uganda, and Zambia
Orthetrum sagitta Ris, 1915	Arrow skimmer	LC[34]	Sierra Leone
Orthetrum serapia Watson, 1984	Green skimmer	LC
Orthetrum signiferum Lieftinck, 1926		LC
Orthetrum silvarum Lieftinck, 1934		LC
Orthetrum stemmale (Burmeister, 1839)	Stemmale skimmer	LC IUCN[35]	Angola, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and possibly Burundi
Orthetrum taeniolatum (Schneider, 1845)	Small skimmer	LC[36]
Orthetrum testaceum (Burmeister, 1839)		LC	India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.[37]
Orthetrum translatum Bartenev, 1929		LC
Orthetrum triangulare (Selys, 1878)	Blue-tailed forest hawk[38]	LC[39]
Orthetrum trinacria (Selys, 1841)	Long skimmer	LC	Algeria, Angola, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Ethiopia, France (Corsica), Gambia, Ghana, Italy (Sicily and Sardinia), Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and possibly Burundi
Orthetrum villosovittatum (Brauer, 1868)	Fiery skimmer	LC[40]

Notes

1. A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Orthetrum.