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Widow skimmers have large bulky bodies, with large heads. Adults have a steely blue body area but juveniles are yellow with brown stripes. [2] Eyes are also large and close together meeting in the middle of the head. [3] They have three pairs of legs. Legs are black in color. They have two pairs of wings: forewings and hindwings.
Palpopleura sexmaculata, [2] commonly known as the Asian widow or blue-tailed yellow skimmer, [3] [4] is a species of dragonfly in the family Libellulidae. It is widespread in several countries in South , East and Southeast Asia , but is no longer believed to occur in Sri Lanka .
The insect family Macromiidae contains the dragonfly species known as cruisers or skimmers.They tend to fly over bodies of water (and roads) 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.
Most terns hunt fish by diving but some pick insects off the surface of fresh water. Terns are generally long-lived birds, with several species known to live in excess of 30 years. Skimmers are a small family of tropical tern-like birds.
The common whitetail or long-tailed skimmer (Plathemis lydia) is a common dragonfly across much of North America, with a striking and unusual appearance.The male's chunky white body (about 5 cm or 2 inches long), combined with the brownish-black bands on its otherwise translucent wings, give it a checkered look.
The chasers, darters, skimmers, and perchers and their relatives form the Libellulidae, the largest family of dragonflies. [2] It is sometimes considered to contain the Corduliidae as the subfamily Corduliinae and the Macromiidae as the subfamily Macromiinae. Even if these are excluded (as Silsby does), there remains a family of over 1000 species.
The skimmers are sometimes included within the gull family Laridae but separated in other treatments which consider them as a sister group of the terns. [3] The black skimmer has an additional adaptation and is the only species of bird known to have slit-shaped pupils .
The black skimmer is the largest of the three skimmer species. It measures 40–50 cm (16–20 in) long with a 107–127 cm (42–50 in) wingspan. [ 5 ] This species ranges from 212 to 447 g (7.5 to 15.8 oz), with males averaging about 349 g (12.3 oz), as compared to the smaller females 254 g (9.0 oz). [ 6 ]