Fulvous Forest Skimmer is a medium-sized red dragonfly with transparent wing tips. Male has a reddish-brown head with red eyes, body and reddish-brown legs. Wings are dark red with a transparent patch at the wing tips. Females are paler than males, often rusty-brown or yellowish-brown in coloration.
Fulvous Forest Skimmer prefers wet forests and breeds in forest marshes or streams. The species is distributed in parts of Asia including India where it is a common species of dragonfly. It occurs in Corbett Tiger Reserve and can frequently be seen at the waterholes at Jim’s Jungle Retreat.
Dragonflies are formidable predators and control populations of small insects including mosquitoes. Use of pesticides, insecticides, contamination of the water bodies and climatic changes are main threats to dragonflies.
These Fulvous Forest Skimmers were photographed by our Chief Naturalist Manoj Sharma at the Champion’s Pool at Jim’s Jungle Retreat.