Sunday, November 21, 2010

Four-spotted Skimmer

A common dragonfly found around much of North America, the four-spotted skimmer gets its common name from the black nodal spot and stigma on each wing. There are 4 spots on both the forewing and hindwing. The scientific name is Libellula quadrimaculata.
The four-spotted skimmer is a circumpolar species and can be found in Europe, Asia, northern Africa, and North America. In Europe they are called the four-spotted chaser and some develop much larger wing spots at the base of the hindwing then those in North America.
Four-spotted skimmers are ambush style hunters. They usually have a favorite perch or two from which they will hunt, often coming back to the perch to feed or try again. This makes them a good dragonfly to photograph. Males and females both look the same so I am not sure which these are.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

What pretty creatures they are.
And they show up so beautifully against that green.
joco

David said...

Beautiful creature. That green background in the first photo really sets it up nicely.
:-) Happy MM!
David/ Tropical Texana/ Houston

A Bit of the Blarney said...

My goodness what delicate wings. Really beautiful! Cathy

Joanne Olivieri said...

Absolutely stunning details and look at those gorgeous wings.

margie said...

love this because you can count the spots!!

KaHolly said...

Ooh, ooh, ooh, what a beauty!

Kala said...

What beautifully translucent wings.

Jama said...

I love the last shot, that's a great macro!

Tarun Mitra said...

Wow,,, I too shared a drangonfly

Charmaine Poulin said...

Fantastic detail!!!!!!

Susan said...

Beautiful captures! And, as always, great information, too.

Maaike said...

great details and a great light!

Marjorie (Molly) Smith said...

lovely shots and plenty of detail, also enjoyed the lesson on this dragonfly. I enjoy learning new things about the different pictures I see.
Molly