Juvenile Twelve-spotted Skimmer Dragonfly

Here's a Twelve-spotted Skimmer. As you probably guessed, they are another dragonfly species in the skimmer family.

They're named after their twelve black spots (3 black spots per wing). Coupled with the 2 white spots on each wing plus some basal white on the back wings, no other dragonfly around here looks like this, making the males one of the easiest dragonfly identifications around.

The females look similar to this except the white spots aren't there; the wings are clear there instead. Since both males and females have the 12 black spots, you could argue that this is one of the few dragonfly common names influenced by the appearance of the female. (Based solely on the male, you could call it a Twenty-two-spotted Skimmer.)

Though the white spots indicate this is a male, I see no pruinose on the tail, so I believe this is a young male.

August 15, 2020 at Negri Nepote Native Grassland Preserve


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