Photo of the Day #635: Dragonfly

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A female widow skimmer (Libellula luctuosa), photographed in Mount Kisco, NY. Thanks to Rich for the identification.


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As a dragonfly enthusiast, I can tell you that you have a female widow skimmer here. Nice picture.

Thanks for the help, Rich. I don't know my dragonflies that well so I wasn't sure where to even start when I wanted to find the species for this one. There were a lot of males and females out that day; I will post more soon.

It's a Widow Skimmer all right, but a male. The white wing bands are much subtler than I'm used to seeing here in Minnesota, but they're definitely there; the yellow stripes on the abdomen are covered up by bluish pruinescence; and you can even make out the claspers at the tip of the abdomen -- at this angle they look a bit like a cloven hoof.

Congratulations on the photo. I always find these guys rather flighty and hard to approach compared to most skimmers.

By Raphael Carter (not verified) on 09 Jul 2009 #permalink

Yup, a male Widow Skimmer, all right. These guys aren't particularly common here in central Arizona, and the few I do find are very difficult to approach and photograph. Congratulations on this fine shot, Brian!

By Pete Moulton (not verified) on 14 Jul 2009 #permalink