Ivory-striped Sylph

Macrothemis imitans · Order: Odonata · Family: Libellulidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Ivory-striped Sylph
Photo: iNaturalist user, CC0

The ivory-striped sylph is a skimmer dragonfly in the Libellulidae family. It lives across Central, North, and South America.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

The ivory-striped sylph belongs to the dragonfly family Libellulidae.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

Its range includes Central America, North America, and South America.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 1 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Texas.

Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.

Source: GBIF

Months it is reported in the US

JFMAMJJASOND

Source: GBIF

More photos

Ivory-striped Sylph photo 2
Photo: Lindolfo Souto, CC BY
Ivory-striped Sylph photo 3
Photo: Tomás Carranza Perales, CC BY
Ivory-striped Sylph photo 4
Photo: iNaturalist user, CC0
Ivory-striped Sylph photo 5
Photo: iNaturalist user, CC0

Same family (Libellulidae)

Blue DasherBlue DasherPachydiplax longipennisEastern PondhawkEastern PondhawkErythemis simplicicollisCommon WhitetailCommon WhitetailPlathemis lydiaWidow SkimmerWidow SkimmerLibellula luctuosaAutumn MeadowhawkAutumn MeadowhawkSympetrum vicinumCommon DarterCommon DarterSympetrum striolatum

Sources

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

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-23.

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.