Yellow-Veined Skimmer (Orthetrum nitidinerve)
• English name: Yellow-Veined Skimmer
• German name: Gelbader-Blaupfeil
• French name: N/A
• Dutch name: Geeladeroeverlibel
• Swedish name: N/A
• Norwegian name: N/A
• Finnish name: N/A
• Danish name: N/A
• Italian name: Frecciazzurra del deserto
• Czech name: N/A
• Slovenian name: N/A
• Bulgarian name: N/A
Yellow-Veined Skimmer
(Orthetrum nitidinerve)
Not present
Present before 1990
Present after 1990
Present before and after 1990
Present after 2015
Map data based on J.-P. Boudot & V. J. Kalkman (eds.),
Atlas of the European Dragonflies and Damselflies
| General | • a medium-sized species which in Europe occurs only in Iberia and on Sardinia, Sicily and Malta | |
| Classification | • suborder: Anisoptera (dragonflies); family: Libellulidae | |
| Conservation status | • IUCN Red List Europe: Vulnerable | |
| Scientific name | • Orthetrum nitidinerve (Selys, 1841) | |
| Name genus | • Orthetrum: from Grk. ὀρθός = straight, parallel +; ἦτρον = abdomen ⇒ Newman described Orthetrum species as having the 'abdomen laterally parallel' (as distinct from Sympetrum species, which have the 'abdomen laterally compressed') | |
| Name species | • nitidinerve: from Lat. nitidus, -a, -um = bright, shining +; -nervis, -is, -e = veined; [nervus = tendon, vein] ⇒ for the bright yellow radial between the wing base and the node | |
| Distribution | • click or tap the Map button above | |
| Habitat | • small ponds, but also tiny sunny streams | |
| Dimensions | • typical body length: 46-50 mm; hindwing: 31-38 mm | |
| Notes | • libellulids are 'sitters': males spend a lot of time perched at the water's edge, waiting for females | |
| • about the same size as O. brunneum, with which it sometimes co-occurs | ||
| • immature animals are beige-yellow, with white bands on the side of the thorax | ||
| Both sexes | Head | ➤ the eyes are brown-grey, not green |
| Wings | ➤ some veins are (whitish) yellow; for details click or tap here | |
| Male | Head | • the face is a whitish pale blue |
| Thorax | • the thorax is entirely pruinescent light blue; the white bands on the side may still be visible | |
| Abdomen | • the abdomen is entirely pruinescent light blue | |
| Female | Thorax | • the thorax is yellow-brown with white bands on the side |
| Abdomen | • the abdomen is yellow-brown with a black mid-dorsal line | |
| ➤ the lower edge of S8 does not bulge | ||
| Photographs | • nearly all of our photos below were made in Sardinia and Andalusia |
LineDrawing: the male's wings in dorsal view and the female's abdominal segments 7 - 10 in lateral view.
