More on Widow Skimmer

I ordered a book on the dragonfly family and it just arrived today. Written by Forrest Mitchell and James Lasswell, A Dazzle of Dragonflies has fantastic color photos and plates of some gorgeous members of this family (insect order named Odonata).

I was pleased to see a photo of a Widow Skimmer with information about them. The photo (posted 8.12.06) in this blog shows opaque white middle wing coloration. My new book says that this is called "pruinescence"--a powdery appearance that can be on the body or the wings or both. It also says that this characteristic "appears more typically in males and is usually more pronounced in older insects." It further notes that Widow Skimmers are a large species and also that this specific species is quite numerous. Indeed the book states that most common species are skimmers.

So I guess the skimmer I photographed was most likely an older male Widow Skimmer. I had no idea one could distinguish "typical" male/female characteristics and especially age indicators-how cool. Read more about skimmers in general and the Widow Skimmer.

SeEtta