Four-spotted chaser
Libellula quadrimaculata Linnaeus, 1758
The four-spotted chaser (Libellula quadrimaculata) is an insect in the Dragonflies and damselflies subgroup, belonging to the family Libellulidae in the order Odonata. It is placed in the suborder Anisoptera and the superfamily Libelluloidea, within the class Insecta and the phylum Arthropoda.
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Quick facts about the four-spotted chaser
The IUCN Red List rates it Least Concern in its global assessment, which is not an IUCN threatened category. Checklists record it in Canada and the United States.
- Weight
- Not recorded
- Length
- 4 cm – 4.8 cmsrc for Length
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- freshwater, riverine, wetlandsrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- Not recorded
- Active
- By day (diurnal)src for Active
- Generations a year
- Onesrc for Generations a year
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- 2 countriessrc for Countries on record
How big is the four-spotted chaser?
Photos of the four-spotted chaser
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
_female_dorsal.jpg){kind=link}
Where does the four-spotted chaser live?
Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.
The four-spotted chaser is listed for 2 countries.
- Listed
- Not listed
The same countries as a list
Why a country list is not a range map
Listed by: WOL (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.
What is the four-spotted chaser?
Libellula quadrimaculata, known in Europe as the four-spotted chaser and in North America as the four-spotted skimmer, is a dragonfly of the family Libellulidae found widely throughout Europe, Asia, and North America.
The adult stage is found between April and early September in the United Kingdom, and from mid-May to mid-August in Ireland. Larvae have a two-year developmental cycle. Adults feed predominantly on mosquitoes, gnats, and midges; the larvae feed primarily on other aquatic insect larvae and on tadpoles.
There is a variant form, praenubila Newman, which has exaggerated wing spots. This is believed to be related to water temperatures during larval development, and appears to be more common in Europe than in the Americas.
The four-spotted skimmer is the state insect of Alaska.
From the Wikipedia article “Four-spotted chaser” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Four-spotted_chaser&oldid=1332176669), 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 four-spotted chaser endangered?
The four-spotted chaser 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 four-spotted chaser classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumArthropoda
- classInsecta
- orderOdonata
- familyLibellulidae
- genusLibellula
- SpeciesLibellula quadrimaculata Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms Leptetrum quadrimaculatum, Leptetrum quadrimaculatum praenubilum, Libellula basilinea, Libellula contacta, Libellula flavescens, Libellula maculata, Libellula praenubila, Libellula quadrimaculata subsp. asahinai, Libellula quadrimaculata subsp. grigorievi, Libellula quadrimaculata subsp. orientalis, Libellula quadripunctata, Libellula relicta, Libellula ternaria
Other names and names in other languages (53)
- Four spotted chaserEnglish
- Four spotted chaserEnglish
- Four-spot pond skimmerEnglish
- Four-spot skimmerEnglish
- Four-spotted chaser dragonflyEnglish
- Four-spotted LibellulaEnglish
- Four-spotted skimmerEnglish
- Кафяво живеничеBulgarian
- Libèl·lula quadrimaculadaCatalan
- vážka čtyřskvrnnáCzech
- Picellwr Pedwar NodWelsh
- Picellwr Pedwar-NodWelsh
- Picellwyr Pedwar NodWelsh
- VandrelibelDanish
- Fireplettet libelDanish
- VierfleckGerman
- Libélula de 4 manchasSpanish
- Libélula de Cuatro ManchasSpanish
- Libélula de cuatro puntosSpanish
- Harilik vesikiilEstonian
- ruskohukankorentoFinnish
- La QuadrimaculéeFrench
- Libellule à quatre tachesFrench
- Libellule QuadrimaculéeFrench
- ruagaire ceithir-bhallachScottish Gaelic
- ruagairean ceithir-bhallachScottish Gaelic
- Libélula maculadaGalician
- Vilin dvopjegCroatian
- Četveropjego vretenceCroatian
- négyfoltos acsaHungarian
- Libellula quadrimacchiataItalian
- Libellula dalle quattro macchieItalian
- ヨツボシトンボJapanese
- 넉점박이잠자리Korean
- Keturtaškė skėtėLithuanian
- Plankumainā platspāreLatvian
- firflekklibelleNorwegian Bokmål
- firflekkbredlibelleNorwegian Bokmål
- ViervlekDutch
- Ważka czteroplamaPolish
- Libélula de quatro pintasPortuguese
- Стрекоза четырехпятнистаяRussian
- Плоскобрюх четырёхпятнистыйRussian
- Четырёхпятнистая стрекозаRussian
- vážka štvorškvrnnáSlovak
- Lisasti ploščecSlovenian
- Gjahtarja me katër njollaAlbanian
- Četveropegi vilin konjicSerbian
- fyrfläckad trollsländaSwedish
- fyrfläckig trollsländaSwedish
- Бабка чотириплямистаUkrainian
- Four-spotted Skimmerroot
- 小斑蜻Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistITISTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the four-spotted chaser
Other species in the same genus Libellula.
Broad-bodied chaser
Libellula depressa
Blue chaser
Libellula fulva
Widow
Libellula luctuosa
Twelve-spot skimmer
Libellula pulchella
Red skimmer
Libellula saturata
Black-faced skimmer
Libellula cyanea
CompareFour-spotted chaser vs Broad-bodied chaserFour-spotted chaser vs Blue chaserFour-spotted chaser vs WidowFour-spotted chaser vs Twelve-spot 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 four-spotted chaser?
The four-spotted chaser is an insect in the Dragonflies and damselflies subgroup. It belongs to the family Libellulidae and the suborder Anisoptera.
What is the scientific name of the four-spotted chaser?
Its scientific name is Libellula quadrimaculata, placing it in the genus Libellula.
Who named Libellula quadrimaculata and when?
The species was named by Linnaeus, 1758.
Is the four-spotted chaser endangered?
No. It is rated Least Concern on the IUCN Red List in its global assessment, which is not an IUCN threatened category.
Which countries is the four-spotted chaser recorded in?
Checklists record it in Canada and the United States.
What other names does the four-spotted chaser have?
It is also called the Four-spot skimmer, Four spotted chaser, Four-spotted skimmer, Four-spot pond skimmer and Four-spotted Libellula.
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). Four-spotted chaser (Libellula quadrimaculata). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/four-spotted-chaser
“Four-spotted chaser (Libellula quadrimaculata).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/four-spotted-chaser.
@misc{four_spotted_chaser_2026,
title = {Four-spotted chaser (Libellula quadrimaculata)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/four-spotted-chaser},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}