Posts Tagged: flameskimmers

How Magical Are the Dragonflies

How magical are the dragonflies. They zig-zag through the pollinator garden, a perfect portrait of a predator: multifaceted eyes, strong wings, and mouthparts that include a toothed jaw and flap like labrium. They're an ancient insect: scientists have...

This is a male flameskimmer, Libellula saturata, photographed in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

How magical is the dragonfly! This is a male flameskimmer, Libellula saturata, photographed in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Close-up of a firecracker red flameskimmer, Libellula saturata. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Close-up of a firecracker red flameskimmer, Libellula saturata. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Dinner time! A red flameskimmer, Libellula saturata, munches on a bee, probably a longhorned bee, Melissodes agilis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Dinner time! A red flameskimmer, Libellula saturata, munches on a bee, probably a longhorned bee, Melissodes agilis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

My Old Flame

I usually can't get within 25 yards of a dragonfly. Not so in our back yard. A flame skimmer or firecracker skimmer (Libellula saturata) has apparently decided that this is where he wants to be. Last Saturday, for nine hours, he perched on a...

A flame skimmer perches on a bamboo stake. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A flame skimmer perches on a bamboo stake. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Different view, different time: same flame skimmer. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Different view, different time: same flame skimmer. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Flame skimmer peeks over the bamboo stake. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Flame skimmer peeks over the bamboo stake. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

From the back, the flame skimmer is equally gorgeous. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

From the back, the flame skimmer is equally gorgeous. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Flame skimmer devouring lunch, an insect he caught in mid-air. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Flame skimmer devouring lunch, an insect he caught in mid-air. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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