Blue Skimmer
Male, Posterior
Ellura
Eastern Billabongfly
S1, Female, dorsal
 
                      
Blue Skimmer (Orthetrum caledonicum)Class: Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta)
Order: Dragonflies (Odonata)
Family: Skimmer (Epiprocta: Libellulidae)     iNaturalist Observation
Species: Blue Skimmer (Orthetrum caledonicum)
This Photo:     🔍Female, Posterior🔎

Thank you Reiner Richter for confirming the id of this species for us

General Species Information:
Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA), the Adelaide Hills, the Flinders Ranges and elsewhere
The recent male we measured was ~47mm long with ~77mm wingspan.
These can be difficult to distinguish as both genders are yellow and black when young. As they age they turn blue. The males go a bright, light sky blue; the females become grey blue.
All males have 3 longer appendages on the rear, the females 2 shorter appendages.
If you are able to take a ventral photo, the males have additional genetals near the join between body & tail. This is what the female connects to when they are mating.
There is another very similar species found in SA, called a Black-headed Skimmer (Crocothemis nigrifrons). As the name suggests, the male has a black head & face (the blue skimmer has a yellow face). The female is very pale grassy brown, with a think black line down it's abdomen.

Copyright © 2022-2024 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. Photographed 30-Nov-2022
This species is an Australian Native Species, not listed in the SA Murray Mallee Survey of 2010.