Red-tailed Skimmer

Orthemis schmidti · Order: Odonata · Family: Libellulidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Red-tailed Skimmer
Photo: Bernard DUPONT from FRANCE, CC BY-SA 2.0

It was first described in 1950 from a specimen collected in Peru and is recorded across northern South America, the Caribbean and Central America.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

A reddish-brown forehead is a distinctive mark. The wings are transparent with a brown tip spot.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

The species was first described in 1950 by Karl Friedrich Buchholz.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

The original specimen came from Peru. It is now known from northern South America, the Caribbean and Central America.

Source: Wikipedia

Status: native in North America. Source: iNaturalist

More photos

Red-tailed Skimmer photo 2
Photo: Bernard DUPONT from FRANCE, CC BY-SA 2.0
Red-tailed Skimmer photo 3
Photo: Gerry van Tonder, CC BY

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/Orthemis_schmidti

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

Text written 2026-10-23 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.