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Widow Skimmer Male and Female Libellula luctuosa | October 16, 2011 |
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Generally, I find it difficult enough to identify most dragonflies (although the Web has certainly made ID easier than it has been). Anyway, imagine my surprise when I first came across the male widow dragonfly and a week later the female.
Both male and female have a striking appearance. First, here's the guy: |
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The widow skimmer Libellula luctuosa is modest size (somewhat less than 2 inches) but a strong flyer. (Dumb name though: "widow" skimmer. Surely naturalists could have done better.)
The female lacks the white wing spots but has a more colorful body. |
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Well, colorful in the sense that she has a yellow stripe.
Photo note: The photos were taken in the Toftrees game land during mid-August 2011, and I used the Pentax K20D, with the Sigma 150-500mm lens and Voigtlander 125mm macro, respectively. |