With all of our swamps, streams, lakes, rivers, and ponds, it’s not surprising that we have more than our share of dragonflies, here in Florida. Many of our dragonflies have very specific habitat requirements, but one that doesn’t is the golden winged skimmer (Libellaula auripennis). It can be found in any lake, pond, ditch, or even slow stream that has grassy areas nearby. They look very similar to the Needham’s skimmer, but Needham’s is only found in coastal areas and prefers salt water or brackish water. This individual was cruising the area around the cattle egret rookery, which is a swampy area that is fed by a small, slow flowing stream that is about thirty miles inland. There were quite a few of them, frequently vying for perches during their endless quest for prey and females.

Golden winged skimmers can be found in the eastern United States from New York, south to Florida and into north eastern Mexico. Like all dragonflies, they are predatory and feed on other insects. The males tend to perch on the tops of twigs and grasses when they hunt, while the females usually perch lower down. Males are quite territorial and will actively defend their territories from other males. Both sexes patrol the grasses alongside water sources as they hunt. Interestingly, while many other species of dragonfly lay their eggs at the waterline on aquatic plants, golden winged skimmers lay theirs directly on the water.

We have been having a very dry spell in my area of central Florida up until the last week, when we finally started having our regular afternoon showers. Since the rain started the number of dragonflies has gone up sharply. When I stopped by the rookery area last week, these gorgeous skimmers were everywhere you looked. As you can see, they captured the late afternoon sun beautifully, making them difficult to miss. It was nice to see so many of them enjoying the fact that the rains have started.