''Orthetrum abbotti'' is a species of

dragonfly A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of true dragonfly are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threate ...

in the family

Libellulidae The skimmers or perchers and their relatives form the Libellulidae, the largest dragonfly family in the world. It is sometimes considered to contain the Corduliidae as the subfamily Corduliinae and the Macromiidae as the subfamily Macromiinae. Ev ...

. Common names include little skimmer and Abbott's skimmer. The species is found in most countries in

sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...

, and also

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

and

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

. Its preferred

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s are small marshy spots (such as seeps, marshy verges of streams and grassy puddles) in grasslands and savannas. This is a small ''Orthetrum''; length 33–38 mm, wingspan 52–60 mm. Mature males are pale blue and the crest of the frons may be dark. The hook of the hamule is long and thin. Females and teneral males have only thin dark lines on the thorax. Orthetrum abbotti 008647-2.jpg, Recently emerged male Orthetrum abbotti 007722-1.jpg, Immature male Orthetrum abbotti 012735-2.jpg, Immature male Orthetrum abbotti 007672-1.jpg, Immature male Orthetrum abbotti 012735-1.jpg, Mature male Orthetrum abbotti 012348-1.jpg, Old male Orthetrum abbotti male secondary gentilia 2014 03 11.jpg, Male secondary gentilia Orthetrum abbotti 008649-1.jpg, Female Orthetrum abbotti 002718-1.jpg, Female Orthetrum abbotti 008678-1.jpg, Old female Orthetrum abbotti 008678-2.jpg, Old female

References

External links

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''Orthetrum abbotti''
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African Dragonflies and Damselflies Online
Libellulidae Insects described in 1892 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{libellulidae-stub