Last week I spotted Purple Skimmers preforming their namesake behavior over a pond. There was a good supply of mosquitoes to keep them occupied.
I don’t recall seeing this species before but in typical dragonfly behavior they taunted me to get an inflight shot.
I was not successful as each spot they hovered had a vegetation obstruction or I was just too slow. Fortunately they took frequent breaks.
Gorgeous colour … loved viewing these Ellen! thank you.
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I was really surprised to see that purple shade. Oddly, I saw one in our back yard two days later and now regret I didn’t go for the camera.
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So pretty!
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Really an amazing color for a bug!
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An unusual color in the animal world, one may wonder what function it has, in addition to appealing to us ….
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That’s an interesting question, Hans. Certainly not camouflage for the area I saw them, but who knows how their predators see…
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That is sure a spectacularly-colored dragonfly, Ellen. I am not familiar with Purple Skimmers, which do not exist in our area, but this hot pink color brings to mind a Roseate Skimmer, a species that is occasionally seen here, but is more of a southern species. My dragonfly identification book shows the range of the Purple Skimmer to be limited to a few areas in Florida, so I am wondering if your beautiful dragonfly might in fact be a Roseate Skimmer, which would be a good match for your Roseate Spoonbills.
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I did not find the Roseate when I was searching online, Mike, but that sure is possible. And of course I love that name 😉.
We haven’t had anything close to a frost yet, 55 about the lowest, and there is still a lot of insect activity. Interestingly I saw one of these skimmers in our back yard a couple days after these images. I didn’t get the camera thinking he would be gone, but now wish I had given it a try.
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Here are some shots of the Roseate Skimmer in BugGuide https://bugguide.net/node/view/2708
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Thanks, I’ll check this out.
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What beauty! You captured it very well, Ellen. Never spotted a purple skimmer, thanks for sharing.
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Thanks, Greta, glad that you liked it. I was quite surprised to see this color, especially this late in dragonfly season. Thanks :-).
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Awesome shooting.
Paz
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Thank you, Paz!
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