Eight Spotted Skimmer

Subject:  Big beautiful dragonfly
Geographic location of the bug:  Kent, WA
Date: 06/25/2021
Time: 04:34 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  This beauty landed on our volleyball net. Never saw one like it!
How you want your letter signed:  AaronF

Eight Spotted Skimmer

Dear AaronF,
Thank you so much for submitting your image of an Eight Spotted Skimmer, Libellula forensis, which is pictured on BugGuide.  BugGuide also provides this interesting history of the evolution of its common name:  “Years ago many children refered to this as the ‘Six-spot’, and counted the basal spots as two crossing the thorax, instead of four separate spots. The same went for the then ‘Ten-spot’, which most recent books have switched to calling the ‘Twelve-spotted Skimmer’. The ‘Six-spot’ name doesn’t seem to appear in any books, but was likely rationalized from comparison with the ‘Ten-spot’ that was to be found in many books. Back then, Libellula forensis didn’t seem to have an established published common name yet.”

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