Twelve-spotted Skimmer
Libellula pulchella · Dragonflies & damselflies
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.
Twelve-spotted Skimmer, male
Brooklyn Botanic Garden, 13 August 2026
A male Twelve-spotted Skimmer perched over the pond in the August border, a big dragonfly of still water across North America and one of the easiest to name in flight.
Three dark patches on each wing, with white showing between and beyond them - the "twelve spots" of the name, though the white is really pruinescence, a waxy bloom mature males develop over time rather than a fixed part of the wing pattern. Younger males and females carry the dark spots alone.
Birds, insects, plants and other wildlife, mostly from Brooklyn, with some from further afield.
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