Black-tailed skimmer
Orthetrum cancellatum (Linnaeus, 1758)
The black-tailed skimmer (Orthetrum cancellatum) is an insect in the dragonflies and damselflies group, belonging to the family Libellulidae. It is placed in the order Odonata, suborder Anisoptera and superfamily Libelluloidea, within the genus Orthetrum.
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Quick facts about the black-tailed skimmer
The species is listed as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List in a global assessment, which is not an IUCN threatened category. It is also called the Black-lined skimmer or Black tailed skimmer, and its scientific name authority is (Linnaeus, 1758).
- Weight
- Not recorded
- Length
- 4.4 cm – 5 cmsrc for Length
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- freshwater, riverinesrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- Not recorded
- Active
- By day (diurnal)src for Active
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the black-tailed skimmer?
Photos of the black-tailed skimmer
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the black-tailed skimmer live?
Not recorded
What is the black-tailed skimmer?
The black-tailed skimmer (Orthetrum cancellatum) is a dragonfly belonging to the family Libellulidae.
From the Wikipedia article “Black-tailed skimmer” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Black-tailed_skimmer&oldid=1379888594), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the black-tailed skimmer endangered?
The black-tailed skimmer is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.
How is the black-tailed skimmer classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumArthropoda
- classInsecta
- orderOdonata
- familyLibellulidae
- genusOrthetrum
- SpeciesOrthetrum cancellatum (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms Hydronympha helvetica, Libellula cancellatum, Libellula depressa, Libellula frumenti, Libellula intermedia, Libellula lineolata, Orthetrum cancellatum subsp. orientale, Orthetrum guptai, Orthetrum helveticum, Orthetrum kraepelini
Other names and names in other languages (43)
- Black tailed skimmerEnglish
- Black-lined skimmerEnglish
- Veliki strijelacBosnian
- Parot cuanegreCatalan
- vážka černořitnáCzech
- Picellwr TindduWelsh
- Orthetrum Llinell-DuuWelsh
- Picellwyr TindduWelsh
- Stor blåpilDanish
- Grosser BlaupfeilGerman
- Libélula AzulSpanish
- Centinela colinegraSpanish
- Libélula centinelaSpanish
- Harilik sinikiilEstonian
- merisinikorentoFinnish
- Orthétrum RéticuléFrench
- Orthétrum réticulé (L')French
- Scimire earrdhubhIrish
- Libélula de cu negroGalician
- ריחופית שחורת-קצהHebrew
- Veliki vilenjakCroatian
- Vízi pásztorHungarian
- Frecciazzurra puntaneraItalian
- Tinkliškoji SkėtėLithuanian
- Lielā ezerspāreLatvian
- stor blålibelleNorwegian Bokmål
- Gewone oeverlibelDutch
- Merisinikorendoolo
- Lecicha pospolitaPolish
- تور نس لرونکي ستنPashto
- Ortétrum de cauda negraPortuguese
- Стрекоза решётчатаяRussian
- Большая голубая стрекозаRussian
- Vážka rybničnáSlovak
- Prodni modračSlovenian
- Rrëshkitësi bishtziAlbanian
- Hitri konjicSerbian
- Велики вилењакSerbian
- stor blåtrollsländaSwedish
- stor sjötrollsländaSwedish
- större sjötrollsländaSwedish
- Mavi Çalı BakiresiTurkish
- Рівночеревець решітчастийUkrainian
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataIUCN Red List
Relatives of the black-tailed skimmer
Other species in the same genus Orthetrum.
Keeled skimmer
Orthetrum coerulescens
White-tailed skimmer
Orthetrum albistylum
Southern skimmer
Orthetrum brunneum
Green skimmer
Orthetrum sabina
Epaulet skimmer
Orthetrum chrysostigma
Long skimmer
Orthetrum trinacria
CompareBlack-tailed skimmer vs Keeled skimmerBlack-tailed skimmer vs White-tailed skimmerBlack-tailed skimmer vs Southern skimmerBlack-tailed skimmer vs Green skimmer
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the black-tailed skimmer?
The black-tailed skimmer is an insect in the dragonflies and damselflies group. It belongs to the order Odonata and the suborder Anisoptera.
What is the scientific name of the black-tailed skimmer?
Its scientific name is Orthetrum cancellatum, in the genus Orthetrum.
What family does the black-tailed skimmer belong to?
It belongs to the family Libellulidae, within the superfamily Libelluloidea.
Is the black-tailed skimmer endangered?
No. It is listed as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List in a global assessment, which is not an IUCN threatened category.
What other names does the black-tailed skimmer have?
It is also called the Black-lined skimmer and the Black tailed skimmer.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe · CC BY 4.0 · 2.0
Chauvier, Y., Adde, A., Bergamini, A. et al. (2025) TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15063844 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Black-tailed skimmer (Orthetrum cancellatum). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-tailed-skimmer
“Black-tailed skimmer (Orthetrum cancellatum).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-tailed-skimmer.
@misc{black_tailed_skimmer_2026,
title = {Black-tailed skimmer (Orthetrum cancellatum)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-tailed-skimmer},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}