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| (Fig. 01) |
Picture Notes: I captured the pictures in (Figs. 01 & 02) on 05/11/2016 while hiking the trails at the Las Vegas Springs Preserve. The dragonfly perched waiting for its next meal in (Fig. 03) was taken while on a visit to Corn Creek Station inside the Desert National Wildlife Refuge at Corn Creek, Nevada on 09/01/2011.
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Description: The Libellula saturata, commonly called Flame Skimmer or Firecracker Skimmer, is a common dragonfly of the family Libellulidae. They are heavy-bodied and usually larger than damselflies; their huge eyes are very close together and they are strong fliers. At rest, they hold their wings out flat to the sides, or slightly forward and downward. They are between 2 and 2-1/2 inches in length. The male is all red-orange including the inside halves of its wings. The thorax and abdomen are unstrapped, the eyes, face, legs, stigma and appendages are all red-orange; the wings are reddish out to slightly beyond nodus (slight bend in wing) with a red streak along the leading edge. The female is not as colorful are usually a medium or darker brown with some thin, yellow markings, sometimes having an orange streak along the leading edge of wings only. Living mostly in warm ponds, lakes, slow streams and pools of rivers, they are found mainly in the southwestern part of the United States. When perched they hold their wings out flat when at rest. Its diet consists of mosquito larvae, aquatic fly larvae, mayfly larvae, small fish, and tadpoles. The nymphs, which live in the mud at the bottom of warm streams or ponds, 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.
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| (Fig. 02) |
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| (Fig. 03) |
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| (Fig. 04) |
