Who doesn't love Dragonfly
- Thread starter Gemma
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That is a big one. Those don't ever stay in one place long enough for me to get a photo. But I am kind of slow. 
Dragonflies and damselflies are probably my favorite garden visitors. I photograph them a bunch.
Oliver Buckle
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I read somewhere recently that damsel flies are the most efficient predators there are, with a 95% kill rate. That makes things like lions look really really inefficient.
DiggersJo
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Those are superb photos...
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I got one of those huge ones here today...sort of. Not the best photo, but a really large dragonfly...
@JBtheExplorer your images are amazing!
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The Whitetail (Plathemis lydia)...
Esther Knapicius
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Couple of years ago, took a picture of a Saddle bag dragon fly. I'll have to run through my cell pics to see if I kept it.
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Hope you find it!!! and post it.
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I think I found a Twelve-spotted Skimmer (Libellula pulchella) today resting on some old wood. It does fit this description:
They are strong fliers that feed on almost any soft-bodied flying insect, including mosquitoes, flies, small moths, mayflies, flying ants, or termites....a very good insect to have around.
- Adults are 2-2.2 in long.
- Males are brownish with twelve black wing spots (three per wing) and eight white wing spots (two per wing).
- Females are brown with yellow stripes down their abdomens and 12 black wing spots (three per wing).
They are strong fliers that feed on almost any soft-bodied flying insect, including mosquitoes, flies, small moths, mayflies, flying ants, or termites....a very good insect to have around.
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Found a pair of the twelve spotted skimmer this morning in about the same place as the single yesterday. This pair looks like male and female fitting the description I posted earlier. Kind of intriguing...
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The Whitetail (Plathemis lydia) seems a regular in the Pollinator garden, curiously to me...
Oliver Buckle
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Possibly, but I like to think it is mainly mosquitos they are after @Oliver Buckle .
I haven't observed a dragonfly taking down a butterfly but that doesn't mean it isn't happening. We have tons of bees, and I suspect dragonflies hit them some but again I haven't observed it.
Up until recently, I thought dragonflies only hung out around water...but I observe them daily around the Pollinator Attractor Garden...
which has sparked my curiosity.
Thinking about them, I recall in my youth folks called them "Snake Doctors" presumably because of the way they sometimes hover over water and touch it with their tails...that was in Missouri however and I haven't heard that expression in Texas.
I haven't observed a dragonfly taking down a butterfly but that doesn't mean it isn't happening. We have tons of bees, and I suspect dragonflies hit them some but again I haven't observed it.
Up until recently, I thought dragonflies only hung out around water...but I observe them daily around the Pollinator Attractor Garden...
which has sparked my curiosity.Thinking about them, I recall in my youth folks called them "Snake Doctors" presumably because of the way they sometimes hover over water and touch it with their tails...that was in Missouri however and I haven't heard that expression in Texas.