---
title: "Four-spotted Skimmer"
description: "Libellula quadrimaculata — Insetti e ragni. 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."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/it/animal/four-spotted-skimmer
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Four-spotted Skimmer

> Libellula quadrimaculata — Insetti e ragni. 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.

- Scientific name: *Libellula quadrimaculata*
- Category: `insects` (Insetti e ragni)
- Habitats: `freshwater` (Laghi e fiumi)
- iNaturalist observations: 42845
- Wikidata: [Q525748](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q525748)
- iNaturalist taxon: [57443](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/57443)

## Names

- en: Four-spotted Skimmer
- de: Vierfleck
- es: Libélula de Cuatro Manchas
- fr: Libellule à quatre taches
- nl: Viervlek
- pl: Ważka czteroplama

## Countries with the most observations

CA (9117), US (6660), RU (6130), DE (4012), GB (3440), FR (2042), DK (1358), FI (1122), AT (1099), NL (823), IT (787), SE (560)

## Summary

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…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four-spotted_chaser

## Photo

![Four-spotted Skimmer](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/four-spotted-skimmer/medium.jpg)

Photo: uusijani · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/223989854

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/four-spotted-skimmer?lang=it` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).