Ugly Hedgehog - Photography Forum
Home Active Topics Newest Pictures Search Login Register
Photo Gallery
Dragonflies in Texas Part III
Page <prev 2 of 4 next> last>>
Nov 16, 2021 20:01:33   #
merrytexan Loc: georgia
 
docshark wrote:
On this trip to Texas I had a chance to photograph on of my favorite skimmer. The most commonly seen dragonflies are the perchers or skimmers of the family Libellulidae. It is the largest family of dragonflies in the world with over 1000 species.
One of the most eye-catching and beautiful species being the Twelve-spotted Skimmer (Libellula pulchella). Males have 12 brown spots with white spots between. They used to be called Ten-spotted Skimmers but I believe that was because the counted the spot at the base of the wing as extending on to the adjacent wing. Thusly, five brown spots on the two fore wings and five on the hind wings. Females have only the brown spots. A males abdomen will take on a white or even blue pruinosity as they age. They are very quick flyers and males will defend their territory which can change from day to day. Mating takes place in flight and the female will deposit eggs by dipping her abdomen in the water or splashing eggs on to a muddy bank while guarded by the male. While surveying on this trip in two different places a fair amount of them were observed.
They can be seen in all three countries of North America.
I hope you find them as beautiful as I do. Enjoy!
>i< Doc

The next two are females.

Twelve Spotted Skimmer (Libellula pulchella) F by Tony Schoch, on Flickr

Twelve Spotted Skimmer (Libellula pulchella) F by Tony Schoch, on Flickr

The rest are males.

Twelve -spotted Skimmer (Libellula pulchella) M by Tony Schoch, on Flickr

Twelve -spotted Skimmer (Libellula pulchella) M by Tony Schoch, on Flickr
On this trip to Texas I had a chance to photograph... (show quote)


thank you for these wonderful shots of your favorite skimmer, doc. the twelve spotted skimmer is beautiful!
i also enjoyed the informative narrative...excellent job on the set.

Reply
Nov 17, 2021 06:10:43   #
Manglesphoto Loc: 70 miles south of St.Louis
 
docshark wrote:
On this trip to Texas I had a chance to photograph on of my favorite skimmer. The most commonly seen dragonflies are the perchers or skimmers of the family Libellulidae. It is the largest family of dragonflies in the world with over 1000 species.
One of the most eye-catching and beautiful species being the Twelve-spotted Skimmer (Libellula pulchella). Males have 12 brown spots with white spots between. They used to be called Ten-spotted Skimmers but I believe that was because the counted the spot at the base of the wing as extending on to the adjacent wing. Thusly, five brown spots on the two fore wings and five on the hind wings. Females have only the brown spots. A males abdomen will take on a white or even blue pruinosity as they age. They are very quick flyers and males will defend their territory which can change from day to day. Mating takes place in flight and the female will deposit eggs by dipping her abdomen in the water or splashing eggs on to a muddy bank while guarded by the male. While surveying on this trip in two different places a fair amount of them were observed.
They can be seen in all three countries of North America.
I hope you find them as beautiful as I do. Enjoy!
>i< Doc

The next two are females.

Twelve Spotted Skimmer (Libellula pulchella) F by Tony Schoch, on Flickr

Twelve Spotted Skimmer (Libellula pulchella) F by Tony Schoch, on Flickr

The rest are males.

Twelve -spotted Skimmer (Libellula pulchella) M by Tony Schoch, on Flickr

Twelve -spotted Skimmer (Libellula pulchella) M by Tony Schoch, on Flickr
On this trip to Texas I had a chance to photograph... (show quote)


Very nice set !!! Doc

Reply
Nov 17, 2021 06:34:27   #
ecobin Loc: Paoli, PA
 
Another Wow set, Doc.

Reply
 
 
Nov 17, 2021 06:54:40   #
J-SPEIGHT Loc: Akron, Ohio
 
docshark wrote:
On this trip to Texas I had a chance to photograph on of my favorite skimmer. The most commonly seen dragonflies are the perchers or skimmers of the family Libellulidae. It is the largest family of dragonflies in the world with over 1000 species.
One of the most eye-catching and beautiful species being the Twelve-spotted Skimmer (Libellula pulchella). Males have 12 brown spots with white spots between. They used to be called Ten-spotted Skimmers but I believe that was because the counted the spot at the base of the wing as extending on to the adjacent wing. Thusly, five brown spots on the two fore wings and five on the hind wings. Females have only the brown spots. A males abdomen will take on a white or even blue pruinosity as they age. They are very quick flyers and males will defend their territory which can change from day to day. Mating takes place in flight and the female will deposit eggs by dipping her abdomen in the water or splashing eggs on to a muddy bank while guarded by the male. While surveying on this trip in two different places a fair amount of them were observed.
They can be seen in all three countries of North America.
I hope you find them as beautiful as I do. Enjoy!
>i< Doc

The next two are females.

Twelve Spotted Skimmer (Libellula pulchella) F by Tony Schoch, on Flickr

Twelve Spotted Skimmer (Libellula pulchella) F by Tony Schoch, on Flickr

The rest are males.

Twelve -spotted Skimmer (Libellula pulchella) M by Tony Schoch, on Flickr

Twelve -spotted Skimmer (Libellula pulchella) M by Tony Schoch, on Flickr
On this trip to Texas I had a chance to photograph... (show quote)


Always excellent images from you Doc

Reply
Nov 17, 2021 07:56:15   #
jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana
 
Nice shots of the little critters, Doc.

Reply
Nov 17, 2021 10:47:19   #
sippyjug104 Loc: Missouri
 
Doc, yet another outstanding post of fascinating dragons and educational narrative. You have inspired me to take my Sigma "Big Ma" 50-500 zoom to our local park this coming spring where the lake attracts them and hopefully, you will help identify what I find.

Reply
Nov 17, 2021 11:48:00   #
OhD Loc: West Richland, WA
 
Nice photos Tony. We have very similar twelve spots here in the inland NW. I'll post a couple in a separate thread. Glad you had a good trip!

Reply
 
 
Nov 17, 2021 11:50:38   #
OhD Loc: West Richland, WA
 
Nice work Tony - glad you had a good trip! We have very similar twelve-spots here in the inland NW. I'll post a couple in a separate thread.

Reply
Nov 17, 2021 12:58:16   #
Earnest Botello Loc: Hockley, Texas
 
Excellent set, Doc.

Reply
Nov 17, 2021 13:57:57   #
Curmudgeon Loc: SE Arizona
 
Wow Doc you have done it again. I think I would have remembered seeing a pink dragon so that's a first for me

Reply
Nov 17, 2021 14:13:20   #
Sylvias Loc: North Yorkshire England
 
Simply beautiful love their wings. The pink dragon is gorgeous! Another great set and narrative Doc.

Reply
 
 
Nov 17, 2021 15:50:12   #
Bubalola Loc: Big Apple, NY
 
docshark wrote:
On this trip to Texas I had a chance to photograph on of my favorite skimmer. The most commonly seen dragonflies are the perchers or skimmers of the family Libellulidae. It is the largest family of dragonflies in the world with over 1000 species.
One of the most eye-catching and beautiful species being the Twelve-spotted Skimmer (Libellula pulchella). Males have 12 brown spots with white spots between. They used to be called Ten-spotted Skimmers but I believe that was because the counted the spot at the base of the wing as extending on to the adjacent wing. Thusly, five brown spots on the two fore wings and five on the hind wings. Females have only the brown spots. A males abdomen will take on a white or even blue pruinosity as they age. They are very quick flyers and males will defend their territory which can change from day to day. Mating takes place in flight and the female will deposit eggs by dipping her abdomen in the water or splashing eggs on to a muddy bank while guarded by the male. While surveying on this trip in two different places a fair amount of them were observed.
They can be seen in all three countries of North America.
I hope you find them as beautiful as I do. Enjoy!
>i< Doc

The next two are females.

Twelve Spotted Skimmer (Libellula pulchella) F by Tony Schoch, on Flickr

Twelve Spotted Skimmer (Libellula pulchella) F by Tony Schoch, on Flickr

The rest are males.

Twelve -spotted Skimmer (Libellula pulchella) M by Tony Schoch, on Flickr

Twelve -spotted Skimmer (Libellula pulchella) M by Tony Schoch, on Flickr
On this trip to Texas I had a chance to photograph... (show quote)


Great shots!

Reply
Nov 17, 2021 16:34:59   #
Mark Sturtevant Loc: Grand Blanc, MI
 
Thank you for all you do, Doc! I really enjoyed that.
There are more beautiful skimmers, of course (that being a subjective thing too). I would vote for the rare purple skimmer from Florida that you showed a while back (I can't quite recall the actual name). Then there is the more common filagree skimmer found out west. Both are still on my bucket list.

Reply
Nov 17, 2021 18:27:56   #
docshark Loc: Millersville, PA
 
merrytexan wrote:
thank you for these wonderful shots of your favorite skimmer, doc. the twelve spotted skimmer is beautiful!
i also enjoyed the informative narrative...excellent job on the set.


So glad that you enjoyed the narrative as well as the pics of my little friends Merry. I've always enjoyed finding a few of these but believe it or not this is the first time in 14 years that I had the chance to photograph a female!
>i< Doc

Reply
Nov 17, 2021 18:31:02   #
docshark Loc: Millersville, PA
 
Manglesphoto wrote:
Very nice set !!! Doc


So glad you think so Frank. I was hoping for more species in these surveys but it was a wonderful time in the field.
>i< Doc

Reply
Page <prev 2 of 4 next> last>>
If you want to reply, then register here. Registration is free and your account is created instantly, so you can post right away.
Photo Gallery
UglyHedgehog.com - Forum
Copyright 2011-2024 Ugly Hedgehog, Inc.