---
title: "Twelve-spotted Skimmer"
description: "Libellula pulchella — Owady i pająki. The twelve-spotted skimmer (Libellula pulchella) is a common North American skimmer dragonfly, found in southern Canada and in all 48 of the contiguous U.S."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/pl/animal/twelve-spotted-skimmer
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Twelve-spotted Skimmer

> Libellula pulchella — Owady i pająki. The twelve-spotted skimmer (Libellula pulchella) is a common North American skimmer dragonfly, found in southern Canada and in all 48 of the contiguous U.S.

- Scientific name: *Libellula pulchella*
- Category: `insects` (Owady i pająki)
- Habitats: `freshwater` (Jeziora i rzeki)
- iNaturalist observations: 33511
- Wikidata: [Q135971](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q135971)
- iNaturalist taxon: [81495](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/81495)

## Names

- en: Twelve-spotted Skimmer
- es: Rayadora de doce manchas
- fr: Libellule gracieuse

## Countries with the most observations

US (23963), CA (8292), MX (5)

## Summary

The twelve-spotted skimmer (Libellula pulchella) is a common North American skimmer dragonfly, found in southern Canada and in all 48 of the contiguous U.S. states.
It is a large species, at 50 mm (2.0 in) long. Each wing has three brown spots. In adult males, additional white spots form between the brown ones and at the bases of the hindwings; it is sometimes called the ten-spot skimmer for the number of these white spots.

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

## Photo

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

Photo: pmrsco · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/123310441

## Machine access

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