Close up of dragonfly, hanging on the side of a branch, against an out of focus green background. The dragonfly's body is bright reddish orange. The wings are lacy and transparent, shading from reddish near the body to clear at the wingtips.

Flame Skimmer Dragonfly hanging onto a branch with its mandibles. LA Arboretum, Arcadia, California, USA. October 2025. #laarboretum #dragonfly #flameskimmer #insect #insectphotography #nature #naturephotography #amateurphotography #photography #omsystem #om1 #mzuiko300mmf4

A flame skimmer dragonfly, seen from above, resting on a green branch. The body and head are bright orange, and the wings shade from bright orange near the body to nearly transparent at the tips. The background is out of focus foliage.

Flame Skimmer dragonfly resting on a green branch. LA Arboretum, Arcadia, California, USA. #laarboretum #dragonfly #flameskimmer #insect #insectphotography #nature #naturephotography #amateurphotography #photography #omsystem #om1 #mzuiko300mmf4

Close-up of a bright orange dragonfly, seen from the side, hanging from the side ov a vertical bright green branch or stalk, against an out of focus light background. The dragonfly/s body and eyes are a bright orange, and the wings shade from orange near the body to transparent at the wing tips.

Flame Skimmer dragonfly resting on a green branch. LA Arboretum, Arcadia, California, USA. #laarboretum #dragonfly #flameskimmer #insect #insectphotography #nature #naturephotography #amateurphotography #photography #omsystem #om1 #mzuiko300mmf4

What a cool name:
"Flame Skimmer"
Downright beautiful. Peace! #birds #nature #insects #dragonfly #peace #entomology #flameskimmer

Garden close up of my new friend! #FlameSkimmer #Dragonfly #StayClassy

Dragonflies are awesome. Beautiful, fun to watch, and very skillful hunters. Flame skimmer. Peace! #birds #insects #dragonfly #dragonflies #hunter #predator #peace #flameskimmer #beauty

I seem to gravitate toward a cool palette (turquoise, greens, purples) when creating jewelry pieces, but this set, inspired by Flame Skimmer dragonflies, just flowed!

#handmadejewelry #natureinspiredjewelry #dragonflynecklace #fierygemstone #flameskimmer

A portion of the rear wing of a male Flame Skimmer Dragonfly, Libellula saturata, Cox Creek, Albany, Oregon, USA. Dragonfly wings are not flat 2-dimensional structures, but rather, they are 3-dimensional, with grooves and ridges running lengthwise along the wing making it rigid, but allowing it to flex from base to tip and front to back without breaking. The membrane of each cell surrounded by veins creates a network that is very resistant to shearing forces. Tiny spines along the veins have very subtle, but cumulative affect on how air flows across each wing The whole wing acts as nature's most perfect airfoil. AND there are 4 of them, each independently movable and they can also rotate about 180 degrees. Dragonflies and damselflies are the only insects whose wings are controlled and powered by muscles that are attached directly to the bases of each wing. Independent sets of muscles raise, lower and rotate and un-rotate each wing. Focus stacks shot with a Nikon D810 and a Mitutoyo M Plan APO 5X infinity microscope objective.

A portion of the rear wing of a male Flame Skimmer Dragonfly, Libellula saturata, Cox Creek, Albany, Oregon, USA. Dragonfly wings are not flat 2-dimensional structures, but rather, they are 3-dimensional, with grooves and ridges running lengthwise along the wing making it rigid, but allowing it to flex from base to tip and front to back without breaking. The membrane of each cell surrounded by veins creates a network that is very resistant to shearing forces. Tiny spines along the veins have very subtle, but cumulative affect on how air flows across each wing The whole wing acts as nature's most perfect airfoil. AND there are 4 of them, each independently movable and they can also rotate about 180 degrees. Dragonflies and damselflies are the only insects whose wings are controlled and powered by muscles that are attached directly to the bases of each wing. Independent sets of muscles raise, lower and rotate and un-rotate each wing. Focus stacks shot with a Nikon D810 and a Mitutoyo M Plan APO 10X infinity microscope objective.

A section of the rearwing of a male #FlameSkimmer #dragonfly, #Libellula-satutara

#Odonata #Insects #Anisoptera #Libellulidae #Skimmer #Invertebrate #Entomology #FocusStacking #NikonD810 #ZereneStacker #BugPics #DragonflyPhotography #Science #SteveValleyPhotography #photography #SciArt #Art

A male Flame Skimmer dragonfly, Libellula saturata on Cox Creek, Albany, Oregon, USA. Shot with a Nikon D700 w/200mm Micro-Nikkor. Until the late 1980's L. saturata was only known from a few sites in southern Oregon. I encountered my 1st one at a warm spring, Page Springs at the foot of Steens Mtn. in Harney County. They were also reported from the Medford area. In 1986, I discovered a very small population on Burkhart Creek in Albany, OR. Since then the species has established itself at numerous sites west of the Cascade Mtns. all the way up into Washington. The males patrol long beats up and down the stream and interact with other Libellula species they encounter and I often see L. saturata males aggressively chase each other for long distances. The sexes are dimorphic with the gynomorphic females primarily tan rather than red-orange, but there are also andromorphic females that are red-orange like the males. At a distance the only way to ID an andromorph is if she happens to be ovipositing (laying eggs) by tapping her abdomen on the surface of the water.

A male #FlameSkimmer #dragonfly #Libellula-saturata on Cox Creek #Albany,Oregon,USA

#Odonata #Insect #Anisoptera #Libellulidae #Skimmer #Invertebrate #Anisoptera #Gomphidae #Entomology #SteveValleyPhotography #photography #SciArt #NikonD700 #200mmMicro-Nikkor #BugPics #DragonflyPhotography #Science

A portrait of a male Flame Skimmer dragonfly, Libellula saturata on Cox Creek, Albany, Oregon, USA. Focus stacks were shot with a Nikon D810 w/50mm Rodenstock Rodagon mounted on Nikon PB-4 Bellows, ~3.5X. Until the late 1980's L. saturata was only known from a few sites in southern Oregon. I encountered my 1st one at a warm spring, Page Springs at the foot of Steens Mtn. in Harney County. They were also reported from the Medford area. In 1986, I discovered a very small population on Burkhart Creek in Albany, OR. Since then the species has established itself at numerous sites west of the Cascade Mtns. all the way up into Washington. The males patrol long beats up and down the stream and interact with other Libellula species they encounter and I often see L. saturata males aggressively chase each other for long distances. The sexes are dimorphic with the gynomorphic females primarily tan rather than red-orange, but there are also andromorphic females that are red-orange like the males. At a distance the only way to ID an andromorph is if she happens to be ovipositing (laying eggs) by tapping her abdomen on the surface of the water.

A male #FlameSkimmer #dragonfly, #Libellula-saturata on Cox Creek, #Albany,Oregon,USA

#Odonata #Insects #Anisoptera #Libellulidae #Skimmer #Invertebrate #Entomology #FocusStacking #NikonD810 #ZereneStacker #BugPics #DragonflyPhotography #Science #SteveValleyPhotography #photography #SciArt #Art

#photography
#macro
#dragonflys
#Flameskimmer

A Flame Skimmer dragonfly from earlier this summer. #dragonflies #photography #entomology #flameskimmer

Happy #InsectThursday!

A smiling #FlameSkimmer dragonfly perched on a rope outside my house.

#HunterFranklinPics
#Dragonflies