Neon Skimmer

I built my pond with the intent of attracting dragonflies. This guy looks like the first resident. I saw him chase off another male today. I can't wait for him to eat all the mosquitoes. I'm trying to find larvae of the same kind to increase my population, now that I know they're native. I never expected such a bright dragonfly when I started digging the pond. What a pleasant surprise!

The Red Skimmer in my area is a fixture around the ponds during the summer. When I was enlarging my pond in winter 2006, I carefully picked through the pond debris to find the nymphs. I brought an old aquarium on the deck, and raised the nymphs to adulthood. This photo is the 5th generation of skimmers to grace my yard. This Skimmer seems very friendly- I have a thin bamboo pole I put next to the pond just for him. Often times we are peering at each other eye to eyes, and he doesn't seem to be afraid. The females are a bit bigger, and brown. My rain barrell seems to always have nymphs it them. Nymphs are critical in keeping mosquito larvae populations down in the rain barrells, along with tad poles. The nymphs if big enough and the tad poles small enough will snack on the tad pol... read morees. They are pretty good hunters as nymphs. Fascinating to watch!