Identification
Male has mostly orange body. Very similar, if not indistinguishable in the field, from Needham's Skimmer. The latter is restricted to the coastal southeastern United States.
Gayle & Jeanell have just done some nice work figuring out the differences between needhami and auripennis, which can be found
here. Gayle reports "For highest resolution, click on "get original uploaded photo", which appears below each image.
The high resolution files are 400-450K and might take a while to download with a dial-up connection. If your monitor resizes these higher resolution images, the full size can be restored by clicking on the "expand" icon which usually appears in the lower right corner of the resized image."
Range
Eastern United States, northern Mexico
Habitat
Grassy ponds, ditches, slow streams
Season
May to August in northeast, February to November in Florida
Food
Predatory on flying insects
Life Cycle
Foraging in fields, males perch at tips of plant stems, females perch at middle. At breeding ponds, males perch on tips of weeds or patrol along waters edge in a nervous fashion.
Internet References
Giff Beaton's page on King Skimmers, including Golden-winged and Needham's
