Flame Skimmer - Libellula saturata

The Flame Skimmer is a large red-orange dragonfly that is common around warm ponds in the west. It ranges from Texas to California, and north into Oregon and Idaho. In our area there is really no other dragonfly like it, with its red eyes, orange inner wings, and orange just about everywhere else, including face, thorax, abdomen and legs! The males compete to occupy favored perches near the water, but they are often seen away from the water, and forage over wide areas.

The first photo shows a pale young (teneral) damselfly , which I didn't really notice until I viewed the photo on the computer. The Flame Skimmer looks like a monster next to the damsel, which may be a bluet sp. (thanks, Leslie). Taken at the pond in Tiburon.

Second photo shows some dark spots on the inner wings. From a Del Puerto Canyon trip led by Leslie Flint.

Last photo, also from Del Puerto, shows an appendage hanging near the last abdominal segment, and is probably the "epiproct", an unpaired structure seen in some male dragonflies, but apparently unrelated to sexual function. Or maybe it is just a fecal pellet!

These are all males. The female Flame Skimmer is browner. After fertilization she does the ovipositing by herself, similar to the Blue-eyed Darner.