Twelve-Spotted Skimmer
Description: Male: Brown head and thorax, abdomen is marked with grayish white. Each wing bears three dark spots with milky patches between them. Female lacks bluish patches in wings and is marked with yellow along the abdomen.
Habitat: Marshes, swamps, ponds, streams, field edges, slow moving rivers and meadows.
Reproduction: Lays eggs in slow moving streams or ponds. The young are called naiads. They feed on small fish, aquatic insects and larval amphibians. The naiads grow to adults and crawl out of the water to shed. Their old exoskeleton can sometimes be seen beneath a fresh adult on grass above the water. The adult is drying and hardening its new exoskeleton and wings.
Diet: Adults capture insects in the air taking flying insects such as midges, mosquitoes and moths, also takes prey such as beetles and flies. Often rests on perches such as branches or plants and watches for prey flying by.
Habitat: Marshes, swamps, ponds, streams, field edges, slow moving rivers and meadows.
Reproduction: Lays eggs in slow moving streams or ponds. The young are called naiads. They feed on small fish, aquatic insects and larval amphibians. The naiads grow to adults and crawl out of the water to shed. Their old exoskeleton can sometimes be seen beneath a fresh adult on grass above the water. The adult is drying and hardening its new exoskeleton and wings.
Diet: Adults capture insects in the air taking flying insects such as midges, mosquitoes and moths, also takes prey such as beetles and flies. Often rests on perches such as branches or plants and watches for prey flying by.