Skimmer Dragonfly Pictures
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Needham's Skimmer

This is from the backyard, May 2015.  If you look carefully you can see its prey which I suspect (and hope) to be one of that big nasty mosquitoes we're seeing after all the rains.  Thanks again to Gil who provided the ID:  This is a female-type skimmer, family Libellulidae. There are two species in your area that are almost identical: Golden-winged and Needham's Skimmers. They are told apart by the markings on the sides of the thorax. I can see just enough of that in your photo to suspect this is a female or immature male Needham's Skimmer (Libellula needhami).  After viewing the image below:  Based on the lateral view, it is confirmed: Needham's Skimmer.  Image Details: Nikon D750 Camera, 200mm f4 macro lens aperture priority f8, 1/1600s, auto-ISO 1000, matrix metering.  I used the fine resolution JPEG out of the camera, vivid setting, plus HDR toning in Photoshop at default settings, but with a fade to just saturation.


Needham's Skimmer - Immature Male (Corrected)

Check out the white hair on this guy (it's a male)!  There was a little back-light thing going on with this images.  Nikon D810A, f5.6, 1/1000s, ISO 400, -1 spot metered with the 500 just about as close as I could get!  Posted 8/1/2016.  Bugguide.net link here.  Needham's and Golden-winged skimmers are almost identical, unfortunately for those of us trying to make IDs!


Needham's Skimmer Close-up Side View

Nikon D810A camera , 200mm F4 lens, f9, 1/640s, ISO400, matrix metered, Active D-Lighting Normal, Vivid setting.  Crop at full camera resolution, Neat Image noise reduction, saved as .jpg in Photoshop at 8/high quality setting, no sharpening or other processing.


Red Skimmer

Best Guess from Gil: Roseate Skimmer (Orthemis ferruginea) and I (Dick) believe it to be a male.  The red dragonflies in the yard are proving most elusive.


Pink-Orange Skimmer

Best guess is another male Roseate Skimmer...  This time caught in direct sunlight.  Unfortunately I was wrestling with my camera while trying to shoot this guy and only got one usable picture of this pose.


Skimmer Side View

Nikon D810A camera, 200mm f4 lens, f8, 1/800s, ISO 640.


Needham's Skimmer - Side View

Same dragonfly as top of page.


Widow Skimmer Dragonfly

Gil advises: Widow Skimmer (Libellula luctuosa), either a female or an immature male. The pattern of darkness on the wing is distinctive in this species. It is a close relative to, and in the same genus as, your Needham's Skimmer. Details: Backyard 5/31/15, Nikon D750, 200mm micro lens at f8, 1/1600s, ISO 1000.


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