Dragonfly - need ID - Yellow-side Skimmer? - Libellula auripennis

New note from Gayle -

#106976 After downloading the image, resizing and enlarging it in Photoshop, I am satisfied that this is a young male L. auripennis. On the original photo it appeared that the front leg might be blocking the area forward of the mesopleural suture. On the enlargement, it is clear that the area is brown. The costa appears to be uniformly bright.

… john and jane balaban, 31 May, 2007 - 9:39pm

Dragonfly ID

I think you have a rather fresh female Libellula auripennis but I cannot rule out L. needhami. Compare with our images
here
Gayle

… Gayle and Jeanell Strickland, 2 May, 2007 - 3:26pm

Golden-winged Skimmer

This is a Golden-winged Skimmer, Libellula auripennis. It's probably a female, but could be an immature male. A good way to tell the difference between the Golden-winged Skimmer and Needham's Skimmer (Libellula needhami) is that the former has black legs whereas the latter has tan legs. Professional entomologists have told me this is not completely foolproof, but is generally reliable.

… June Tveekrem, 3 May, 2007 - 6:52pm

June, can you look through the guide

images of these two species and make comments on any that seem to you to be misplaced? That would be a great help to the editors moving images. Just click on Images above to see all the images for auripennis, for example. 56646 does not have black legs, for example.

… john and jane balaban, 16 May, 2007 - 9:46pm