Libellula axilena (Bar-winged Skimmers, Female) in Residential Valdosta, Georgia; 16 June 2013

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Libellula axilena, the Bar-winged skimmer (females), photographed in Lowndes county, Georgia (16 June 2013). Identification confirmed by bugguide.net.

Courtesy the good folks at bugguide.net, I can confidently state that this is not only a Bar-winged skimmer, Libellula axilena, but also a female Bar-winged skimmer! Hooray for confident identifications! The issue here, for me, was that immature males and females are both very similar in appearance. No doubt, the trained Odonate Masters of the World can tell the difference by basic anatomical distinctions… but I’m not one of those Odonate Masters. Not yet, anyhow. I hope to someday attain the status of Possible Padawan of Odonates. Maybe.

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In our last post, we saw a male Bar-winged skimmer. If you flip back to that post, you’ll see a huge difference between these two dragonflies. Major color differences. Alas, sexual dimorphism such as this are quite common in the insect world. The differences can indeed be quite dramatic, though you may notice the awesomely cartoonish wolf’s head on the side of both individuals. According to Giff Beaton’s Dragonflies & Damselflies of Georgia and the Southeast, the cartoon wolf’s head generally has pointier ears on Bar-winged skimmer than on the similar Slaty skimmer (Libellula incesta). This is one of the reasons I earlier identified this individual as a female Slaty and not a Bar-winged skimmer (I haven’t yet verified that identification, btw). Anyhow, check out this photo and see if you can find the pointy-eared wolf’s head:

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Cool, right? Way cool.

Now, the following photograph is actually of a different individual than all the other photos. Again, I think this is a Bar-winged skimmer and not a Slaty skimmer. Note the ears on the wolf’s head, as well as the darkish face with white around the sides. Now, whether or not this is a female or an immature male, I’m not entirely sure. It did seem rather large to be an immature male, though. I may upload it later to bugguide and bug them some more –in a few days– to confirm one way or the other. What do you think:

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So, yeah. Busy week on the dragonfly front. I do have a couple more posts following this one — a few more dragonfly action bits yet to come. Then we’re going to move on forward and start checking out some other stuff. It is, after all, cicada season — and my beloved Tibicen auletes have started showing up! Rah!

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Next on Dust Tracks: Yup. More dragonflies. A few more, then we’ll move on.

Cool Link: Giff Beaton’s Damselflies and Dragonflies website.

~ janson

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Libellula axilena (Bar-winged Skimmer, Male) in Residential Valdosta, Georgia; 16 June 2013

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Libellula axilena, the Bar-winged skimmer (male), photographed in Lowndes county, Georgia (16 June 2013). NOTE: This identification was confirmed by bugguide.net on Tuesday 18 June 2013. I’m fairly sure this is a male Bar-winged skimmer, Libellula axilena (see note above). The … Continue reading

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Libellula incesta (Slaty Skimmer, Female) in Residential Valdosta, Georgia; 16 June 2013

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Libellula incesta, the Slaty skimmer (female), photographed in Lowndes county, Georgia (16 June 2013). This is, I do believe, a female Slaty skimmer (Libellula incesta) absolutely pulverizing a Two-lined spittlebug (Prosapia bicincta). Seriously, the spittlebug was absolutely destroyed by this … Continue reading

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Plathemis lydia (Common Whitetail) in Residential Valdosta, Georgia; 16 June 2013

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Plathemis lydia, the Common whitetail (male), photographed in Lowndes county, Georgia (16 June 2013). Hey, it’s a brand-spanking new species for Dust Tracks! Though I’m sure it’s not the first time I’ve seen the species, this is the first photograph … Continue reading

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Libellula vibrans (Great Blue Skimmer?) in Residential Valdosta, Georgia; 13 June 2013

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Libellula vibrans, the Great blue skimmer, photographed in Lowndes county, Georgia (13 June 2013). This is an identification I’m not entirely sure about. I *think* this is a Great blue skimmer, but I’m not positive. The face certainly appears white … Continue reading

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Pachydiplax longipennis (Blue Dasher) in Residential Valdosta, Georgia; 16 June 2013

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Pachydiplax longipennis, Blue dasher (female or immature male), photographed in Lowndes county, Georgia (16 June 2013). Another Blue dasher? Yup. Another Blue dasher! But don’t worry, there’s plenty more dragonflies to come — above and beyond the Blue dasher. I … Continue reading

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Chrysopidae Larva (Green Lacewing) in Residential Valdosta, Georgia; 12 June 2013.

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Unidentified species of Family Chrysopidae, a Green lacewing larva, photographed in Lowndes county, Georgia (12 June 2013). Files under Chrysopidae Larva. If you look really, really closely at the round piece o’ crud in the photograph above, you’ll see the … Continue reading

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