Twelve-spotted Skimmer
Libellula pulchella
Twelve-spotted Skimmer · Brooklyn Botanic Garden · 13 August 2026
A Twelve-spotted Skimmer over the pond in the August border, one of the big, showy skimmers of still water across North America and a constant patroller of the garden's ponds in high summer.
Named for the twelve dark patches across the four wings, but the eighteen white patches between them are the better field mark: only the mature male has all of them, so counting white first is the faster way to sex one at a glance.
Birds, insects, plants and other wildlife, mostly from Brooklyn, with some from further afield.
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