Orthetrum julia, the Julia skimmer is a species of dragonfly in the family Libellulidae.

Quick Facts Orthetrum julia, Conservation status ...

Orthetrum julia
Male, uMkhuze Game Reserve, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa
Female, Ithala Game Reserve, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Odonata
Infraorder:	Anisoptera
Family:	Libellulidae
Genus:	Orthetrum
Species:	O. julia
Binomial name
Orthetrum julia Kirby, 1900

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It is found in Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, possibly Burundi, and possibly Madagascar.

Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, rivers, and freshwater springs.

Orthetrum stemmale appears similar to O. julia falsum in south-eastern Africa. The important differences are in wing details shown in the figure (left). O. julia falsum (top) has dark subcostal Ax and has one row of cells in the radial planate (generally less than 10 cells doubled - summed over the radial planates of the four wings).^[2] This example shows a single doubled cell on each wing. O. stemmale (bottom) has pale subcostal Ax and usually at least ten cells doubled in total over the four wings^[2] - this example shows three doubled cells in the radial planate of the forewing. The pterostigma of O. julia falsum is generally dark, whereas that of O. stemmale is pale.