- Animals
- ›Arthropods
- ›Hexapods
- ›Insects
- ›Winged and Once-winged Insects
- ›Dragonflies and Damselflies
- ›Dragonflies
- ›Libelluloidea
- ›Skimmers
- ›Orthetrum
Green Skimmer
Orthetrum serapia
Orthetrum serapia known as the green skimmer is a freshwater dragonfly in the Libellulidae family. The serapia species is present in Australia, the Philippines, Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands. It inhabits a wide range of still and sluggish waters, often shallow. In Australia it ranges from the top end of the Northern Territory to about Mackay in central Queensland.
From the article Orthetrum serapia on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
Description
Orthetrum serapia is a medium-sized dragonfly with a wingspan of 60-85mm. Its wings are clear except for a small dark spot at the base of the hindwing. The thorax is greenish to greyish yellow with black markings. The abdomen is black with pale yellow or pale green markings. Orthetrum serapia appears very similar to Orthetrum sabina and can be confused where the range of the two overlaps in north-eastern Australia.
In human culture
The genus name Orthetrum is derived from the Greek ὀρθός (orthos, "straight") and ἦτρον (ētron, "abdomen"), referring to the parallel-sided abdomen of the genus. The species name serapia is an eponym honouring Saint Serapia, a slave, martyr, and servant of Saint Sabina.
Wikipedia: “Etymology”
Listen
Looking for field recordings…
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
—
geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Orthetrum serapia in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 107977.