Cruisers
Guides
Macromiidae
cruisers, skimmers
Macromiidae is a family of large dragonflies commonly called cruisers or skimmers, containing approximately 125 species in three genera (Epophthalmia, Macromia, Phyllomacromia). Adults are known for their distinctive flight pattern of patrolling straight down the middle of water bodies and roads. The family is widely distributed across the Holarctic, Afrotropical, Australasian, and Indo-Malayan regions, with highest diversity in East and Southeast Asia, North America, and sub-Saharan Africa. Females lack an ovipositor and deposit eggs by dipping their abdomen into water during flight.