Four-spotted chaser: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the four-spotted chaser lives – recorded in 17 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Libellula quadrimaculata
Group	Dragonflies & damselflies
Status	Least concern (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	17 countries
Continents	Europe, North America
Class	Insect
Order	Odonata
Family	Libellulidae

Where does the four-spotted chaser live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the four-spotted chaser in 17 countries and territories across Europe and North America.

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

Is the four-spotted chaser endangered?

The four-spotted chaser’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Least concern” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the four-spotted chaser?

The four-spotted chaser (Libellula quadrimaculata) is an insect in the order Odonata and the family Libellulidae, genus Libellula. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the four-spotted chaser

Libellula quadrimaculata, known in Europe as the four-spotted chaser and in North America as the four-spotted skimmer, is a dragonfly of the family Libellulidae found widely throughout Europe, Asia, and North America.

The adult stage is found between April and early September in the United Kingdom, and from mid-May to mid-August in Ireland. Larvae have a two-year developmental cycle. Adults feed predominantly on mosquitoes, gnats, and midges; the larvae feed primarily on other aquatic insect larvae and on tadpoles.

There is a variant form, praenubila Newman, which has exaggerated wing spots. This is believed to be related to water temperatures during larval development, and appears to be more common in Europe than in the Americas.

The four-spotted skimmer is the state insect of Alaska.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Four-spotted chaser (revision 1332176669), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q525748 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).