There are several red-abdomened dragonflies in Costa Rica. In fact, there are several red-abdomened skimmer dragonflies in Costa Rica.We did see a couple of the others: O. levis (Slender Skimmer) and O. schmidti (Red-tailed Skimmer).
The most distinctive feature about this suspect, it strikes me, is the pale striping on the basal segment. This seems true for both sexes. Having seen a male at the Reserva Biológica Trimbina, we found a female, albeit slightly less than cooperative, beside the road to PN Palo Verde. Note the pair of flaps on the end of the female’s abdomen.
| male |
 male.jpg) |
| female |
 female.jpg) |