The skimmers or perchers and their relatives form the Libellulidae, the largest dragonfly

Dragonfly

A dragonfly is a winged insect belonging to the order Odonata, the suborder Epiprocta or, in the strict sense, the infraorder Anisoptera . It is characterized by large multifaceted eyes, two pairs of strong transparent wings, and an elongated body...

 family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 in the world. It is sometimes considered to contain the Corduliidae

Corduliidae

The insect family Corduliidae contains the emerald dragonflies or green-eyed skimmers. These dragonflies are usually black or dark brown with areas of metallic green or yellow, and most of them have large, emerald-green eyes...

 as the subfamily Corduliinae and the Macromiidae

Macromiidae

The insect family Macromiidae contains the dragonfly species known as cruisers or skimmers. They tend to fly over bodies of water straight down the middle. They are similar to Aeshnidae in size, but the eyes are green and just barely meet at the top of the head.Macromiidae has been traditionally...

 as the subfamily Macromiinae. Even if these are excluded (as Silsby does), there still remains a family of over 1000 species. With nearly worldwide distribution, these are almost certainly the most often seen of all dragonflies.

The genus Libellula is mostly New World

New World

The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...

, but also has one of the few endangered odonates from Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 - Libellula angelina. Many of the members of this genus are brightly colored or have banded wings. The related genus Plathemis includes the whitetails. The genus Celithemis contains several brightly marked species in the southern United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Members of the genus Sympetrum

Sympetrum

Sympetrum is a genus of small to medium sized skimmer dragonflies, known as darters in the UK and as meadowhawks in the North America...

are called darters (or meadowhawks in North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

), and are found throughout most of the world, except Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. Several Southern Hemisphere

Southern Hemisphere

The Southern Hemisphere is the part of Earth that lies south of the equator. The word hemisphere literally means 'half ball' or "half sphere"...

 species in the genera Trithemis and Zenithoptera are especially beautiful. Other common genera include Tramea and Pantala.

The libellulids have stout-bodied larva

Larva

A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...

e with the lower lip or labium developed into a mask over the lower part of the face.

Etymology

The order name may have been derived from the Latin libella which means booklet.

The German glider manufacturer Glasflugel

Glasflügel

The firm Glasflügel was founded by Eugen Hänle in 1962 and was located in Schlattstall, south of Kirchheim unter Teck. It was the first firm to manufacture a glass-fibre sailplane in large numbers...

 designed and manufactured the Libelle

Glasflügel H-201

|-References:*Thomas F, Fundamentals of Sailplane Design, College Park Press, 1999*Simons M, Segelflugzeuge 1965-2000, Eqip, 2004*...

 single-seat glider

Glider (sailplane)

A glider or sailplane is a type of glider aircraft used in the sport of gliding. Some gliders, known as motor gliders are used for gliding and soaring as well, but have engines which can, in some cases, be used for take-off or for extending a flight...

.

Genera

Libelluidae contains the following genera

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

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