Another dragonfly I got to photograph in Texas is the Roseate Skimmer (Orthemis ferruginea). Its range is Brazil to the lower two thirds of the US. Vagrants have been spotted in Virginia and Maryland near me but they are rare observations. The males are quite showy. They are a rosy red that is pruinose (a waxy film) making it a beautiful pink with a metallic purple face. The males will defend a territory very aggressively fighting off all males of their species that enter the area. The last shot is an immature male. He is the color of a female for a few hours and then begins his transition to the pink male color. Females are orange/brown and if you look closely you will see "flaps" or "tabs" on either side at the end of the abdomen. During egg laying she will hover above the water in a vertical position and drop the end of her abdomen into the water and use those flaps to scoop water and fling it with fertilized eggs onto a wet muddy bank. It's pretty cool to watch.

Roseate Skimmer (Orthemis ferruginea) M by Tony Schoch, on Flickr

Roseate Skimmer (Orthemis ferruginea) M by Tony Schoch, on Flickr

Roseate Skimmer (Orthemis ferruginea) M by Tony Schoch, on Flickr

Roseate Skimmer (Orthemis ferruginea) F by Tony Schoch, on Flickr

Roseate Skimmer (Orthemis ferruginea) F by Tony Schoch, on Flickr

Roseate Skimmer (Orthemis ferruginea) Imm. M by Tony Schoch, on Flickr

Enjoy! More to come!