14 Types of Dragonflies in Florida: Species and Families to Know

Florida’s swamps, springs, and drainage canals host one of the richest dragonfly faunas in North America, and learning the different types of dragonflies in Florida starts with knowing what to look for on the wing. The state’s warm, wet climate keeps these insects active nearly year-round, and their colors, flight patterns, and perching habits vary enormously from one group to the next.

This guide walks through seven standout Florida species before moving into the seven broader families that organize all of the state’s dragonflies, from stocky clubtails to jewel-eyed emeralds. Along the way, you will pick up identification cues that work whether you are watching from a canoe or a backyard pond.

Pro Tip: Dragonflies and damselflies are easy to confuse at a glance. Dragonflies are larger, with huge, close-set eyes, holding their wings out flat when they are at rest, while damselflies are typically smaller, with wide-set eyes and a closed-wing posture.

Band-winged Dragonlet

The Band-winged Dragonlet (Erythrodiplax umbrata) is one of the species regularly documented in Florida dragonfly photo surveys alongside the Roseate Skimmer, Bar-winged Skimmer, and Carolina Saddlebags. It belongs to the skimmer family and is typically found perched low over vegetation at the edges of ponds and slow streams, where males often develop a dark, smoky coloration on the wings as they mature.

Like most skimmers, this species spends much of its adult life close to still water, darting out to snatch small flying insects before returning to a favorite perch. Its range extends well beyond Florida into the wider tropics, making it one of the more widely distributed dragonflies you will encounter while surveying local wetlands.

Roseate Skimmer

The Roseate Skimmer (Orthemis ferruginea) ranks among the most photogenic dragonflies in the state. According to Florida Institute of Technology, this small, 46-55 mm dragonfly ranges from the Southern United States to Brazil, and males have a light purple thorax with a vibrant pink abdomen, connected to a shiny purple face with burgundy eyes.

Females look quite different from males, which can trip up new observers. Females have a yellow to golden-brown color with black-to-pink wings, and both sexes favor still or slow-moving water surrounded by thick, overhanging vegetation. Look for them perched on exposed twigs near canals and retention ponds throughout much of the state.

Bar-winged Skimmer

The Bar-winged Skimmer (Libellula axilena) is another species documented in Tom Murray’s Florida dragonfly photo gallery, which catalogs many of the state’s common Odonata alongside detailed images for field comparison. As a member of the skimmer family, it shares the group’s characteristically broad, flattened abdomen and preference for perching horizontally on vegetation.

This is a shade-tolerant species, often found around wooded ponds and slow blackwater creeks rather than open, sunny lakes. Its dusky wing patches near the base help separate it from the more brightly marked skimmers that share its habitat.

Carolina Saddlebags

The Carolina Saddlebags (Tramea carolina) belongs to a small group of dragonflies nicknamed for the dark, patch-like markings at the base of their hind wings. The Carolina saddlebags is among the larger species of the insect, according to The Insect Guide, and it is a strong, gliding flier often seen well away from water.

Saddlebags as a group are notoriously tricky to tell apart in the field. Without a cooperative subject and good lighting, it can be difficult to determine the exact species of saddlebag dragonfly you’re looking at, notes the University of Florida IFAS Extension. Patience and a good look at the wing pattern usually settle the identification.

Cypress Clubtail

The Cypress Clubtail (Phanogomphus minutus) takes its common name from the cypress-lined waterways it favors, and it appears among the species catalogued in regional Florida dragonfly surveys. As a clubtail, it shows the family’s trademark widened abdomen tip, though the effect is subtler in this species than in some of its larger relatives.

Clubtails as a group tend to be more secretive than skimmers, often perching flat on the ground, on rocks, or on bare branches rather than on obvious waterside stems. Spotting a Cypress Clubtail usually rewards patient observers walking slowly along shaded, tannin-stained streams.

Red Saddleback Dragonfly

The Red Saddleback Dragonfly is a striking, large-bodied insect that field observers on Florida’s Nature Coast have measured with an impressive 5-inch wingspan, according to NatureCoaster.com. It belongs to the same saddlebags group as the red saddlebag (Tramea onusta), sharing the dark, patch-like hind-wing markings that give the whole group its name.

Distribution within the saddlebags group varies by species. Black saddlebags dragonflies can be found throughout Florida while red saddlebags are limited to the peninsular portion of the state, per UF/IFAS. Look for this dragonfly cruising open fields and roadsides far from open water, since saddlebags are among the most far-ranging fliers in the state.

Blue-faced Darner

The Blue-faced Darner (Coryphaeschna adnexa) is a fast, powerful flier that spends most of its time patrolling rather than perching, a habit typical of the darner family. Its most distinctive field mark, as the name suggests, is a vivid blue face that stands out even in low light over shaded ponds and slow streams.

Like other darners, this species holds its wings out flat and its eyes meet broadly at the top of the head, giving it excellent all-around vision for hunting mosquitoes and other small insects on the wing. It is most active during the warmer months, when Florida’s wetlands are thick with the flying insects that make up its diet.

With seven individual species covered, it helps to step back and look at the broader families of Florida dragonflies before going further. Dragonfly species are divided into seven families: clubtails, cruisers, darners, emeralds, petaltails, skimmers and spiketails, according to the Forest Preserve District of Will County. The table below offers a quick side-by-side comparison before each family gets its own closer look.

Family	Typical Size	Key Identifying Trait
Clubtails	Small to medium	Widened, club-like tip on the abdomen; widely separated eyes
Darners	Large	Eyes touch broadly at the top of the head; perch vertically
Skimmers	Small to medium	Broad, flattened abdomen; bold colors and wing patterns
Cruisers	Medium to large	Restless patrol flight along rivers and roads
Spiketails	Medium to large	Female’s up-and-down egg-laying motion; slanted perch
Petaltails	Large	Widely separated eyes; muted, camouflaged colors
Emeralds	Small to medium	Bright emerald-green eyes; scarce and hard to find

Clubtails

Clubtails, family Gomphidae, are second only to skimmers in species diversity across North America. Approximately one hundred clubtail dragonflies fly around the water areas of North America, according to Green Nature, spread across roughly fourteen genera.

The family’s common name comes from the shape of the male’s abdomen tip. This club-like quality at the end of the abdomen is more pronounced in males than in females and may even be entirely absent in some species. Another useful field mark is eye placement: clubtails, along with the much less common petaltails and damselflies, have separated eyes, unlike the broadly touching eyes of darners and skimmers.

Darners

Darners, family Aeshnidae, include some of the largest and most powerful dragonflies you will see over Florida water. Darners are the largest of Florida’s dragonfly species, sometimes exceeding four inches long, reports WGCU News. They tend to hang vertically from twigs and stems when they finally do land, in contrast to the horizontal perching favored by skimmers.

Some darners are also surprisingly migratory for insects. Some populations of Common Green Darners migrate, particularly in winter, when they travel as far south as Panama, according to Bird Watching HQ. Watching large aggregations of darners moving south along the coast in autumn is one of the more memorable dragonfly-watching experiences Florida offers.

Skimmers

Skimmers, family Libellulidae, make up the most species-rich and visually varied dragonfly family in Florida. Skimmers are generally small in size but are vivid in color, notes the Texas Land Conservancy’s dragonfly guide, and the same holds true across most of the skimmer species found in Florida’s ponds, canals, and marshes.

Many of the state’s most familiar dragonflies fall into this family, including the boldly patterned Halloween pennant. The Halloween pennant dragonfly is a brightly colored dragonfly named for its orange-colored wings, which have dark brown bands marking them, and it is often seen perched on waterside plants. Skimmers as a group are usually the easiest dragonflies for beginners to notice and identify, since they perch conspicuously and return to the same spot repeatedly.

Cruisers

Cruisers, family Macromiidae, earn their name from their restless flight behavior rather than any single color pattern. Cruisers are known for their restless habits as they continuously cruise their territory, according to the Texas Land Conservancy. This constant patrolling makes them harder to photograph than perch-loving skimmers, since they rarely stay still for long.

River cruisers in particular favor a very specific flight path. Their habit of cruising up and down roads and rivers explains the common name for the nine native River Cruiser dragonflies, one of which is the Florida Cruiser. Watching for a large dragonfly steadily patrolling the same stretch of riverbank, back and forth, is often the quickest way to identify a cruiser in the field.

Spiketails

Spiketails, family Cordulegastridae, form one of the smallest and least commonly encountered dragonfly families in North America. Spiketail dragonflies form a small group, from the Cordulegastridae family, composed of about eight species, according to Sweetgrass Farm Garden.

The family’s name describes a very specific female behavior rather than a body part. They derive their name from the vertical up and down “spiking” movement of the female as she releases her eggs into the soil near the edge of water sources. When perched, spiketails also hold their bodies differently from darners: unlike the vertical perching of darners, spiketails tend to hang at a slant angle to the ground beneath them. Their scarcity makes any sighting a genuine highlight for dedicated Odonata watchers.

Petaltails

Petaltails, family Petaluridae, are considered the most ancient dragonfly lineage still flying today. Petaltails are believed to be the oldest of the dragonfly families, with fossil records dating them back one hundred and fifty million years. Worldwide, the family is vanishingly small: in total, only eleven species are documented worldwide, two of which are native to the United States.

Identification relies on a combination of eye placement and coloration rather than the bold patterns seen in skimmers. Petaltails are easy to identify due to their muted colors and their eyes are separated far apart. Because they are so rare and so ancient, a petaltail sighting anywhere in the United States is considered a notable find among Odonata enthusiasts.

Emeralds

Emeralds, family Corduliidae, are named for one of the more striking features in the entire dragonfly order. Emerald dragonflies belong to the Corduliidae family and derive their common name from their striking emerald green eyes, and they are commonly found in most regions of the United States.

Despite their wide range, actually finding one takes effort. Emeralds are rare like emerald gems; they are scarce and hard to find, according to the Texas Land Conservancy. Emeralds tend to favor forested lakes and shaded ponds rather than the open, sunny water bodies preferred by many skimmers, so checking shaded margins is usually the best strategy for spotting one.

Important Note: Sources vary on the exact number of dragonfly species recorded in Florida. UF/IFAS Extension puts the figure at over 100 species found in Florida, while a 2022 field guide review cites approximately 120 in Florida out of roughly 5,500 species worldwide. The discrepancy likely reflects ongoing taxonomic updates and differing survey methods rather than a true change in the state’s dragonfly population.

Whether you are watching a Roseate Skimmer perched on a canal-side reed or scanning a shaded creek for a Cypress Clubtail, Florida’s dragonflies reward slow, patient observation more than fast movement. Learning the seven families first, then working out which species within each group you are looking at, turns a confusing blur of wings into a manageable identification puzzle. Grab a pair of close-focus binoculars, head to the nearest pond or spring run, and start building your own list of the dragonflies sharing that water with you.