Flame Skimmer

Flame Skimmer

Taxobox
name = Flame Skimmer


image_width = 250px
image_caption = Male Flame Skimmer
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
classis = Insecta
ordo = Odonata
subordo = Anisoptera
familia = Libellulidae
genus = "Libellula"
species = "L. saturata"
binomial = "Libellula saturata"
binomial_authority = Uhler, 1857

The Flame Skimmer or Firecracker Skimmer ("Libellula saturata") is a common dragonfly of the family Libellulidae, native to western North America.

Description

Male Flame Skimmers are known for their entirely red or dark orange body, this includes eyes, legs, and even wing veins. Females are usually a medium or darker brown with some thin, yellow markings. This particular type of skimmer varies in size but is generally measured somewhere between two and three inches long. [Kris Wetherbee, Kris. Attracting Birds, Butterflies & Other Winged Wonders To Your Backyard. New York, NY: Sterling Publishing Company, Inc., 2005.] These naiads are known for being rather large and chubby-looking due to their rounded abdomen. They are covered with hair but, unlike most young dragonflies, they lack hooks or spines.

Location

Due its choice habitat of warm ponds, streams, or hot springs, flame skimmers are found mainly in the southwestern part of the Untied States. Although it nearly always makes its home near hot springs, it has also been found in low elevation deserts in southwest Idaho.

Feeding Habits

A baby flame skimmer, also called a naiad, feeds mainly on aquatic insects. Its diet consists of mosquito larvae, aquatic fly larvae, mayfly larvae, freshwater shrimp, small fish, and tadpoles. The naiads, which live in the mud at the bottom of warm streams or ponds, will catch their prey by waiting patiently for it to pass by. Adult skimmers usually feed on moths, flies, ants, or any other soft-bodied insect while waiting perched on a small rock or twig or while flying through the air. [Lung, Mark, and Stefan Sommer. "Libellula saturata." Idaho Museum of Natural History. 1 2001. Idaho Museum of Natural History. 27 Feb. 2008 .]

Reproduction

Breeding for flame skimmers occurs during their flight season from May to September. Males will compete with other males for prime breeding locations and females. [Mason, Jim. "Dragonflies & Damselflies." Great Plains Nature Center. 1 Great Plains Nature Center. 13 Mar. 2008 .] After mating, the male and female will separate and the female will fly off alone to lay her eggs. She does this by hovering above small streams or ponds and dipping the end of her abdomen into the water. Often she will deposit her eggs in many different places in order to prevent the naiads from using each other as a source of food.

References

*Mason, Jim. "Dragonflies & Damselflies." Great Plains Nature Center. 1 Great Plains Nature Center. 13 Mar. 2008 .

Sabet-Peyman, Jason. "Introduction to the Odonata." University of California Museum of Paleontology. 1 University of California, Berkley. 13 Mar. 2008 .

External links

* [http://www.azodes.com/dragons/skimmers/skim-flam.asp Libellula saturata] at AzOdes
* [http://www.greglasley.net/flamskim.html Libellula saturata] profile and photos


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