This fella showed up in my patio garden one September morning and remained long enough for me to fetch my camera, change to my close-up lens and take pictures for about 5 minutes. I was astonished by the color of this dragonfly as I had never seen one like it before. When I looked this fella up on Wikipedia, I found he was in the family Libellulidae, the skimmers, and that this native to western North America was a member of  the species Libellula saturata.

I admire dragonflies for their beauty and the fact that they have existed for millions of years. Additionally, their offspring consume mosquito larvae, and as winged adults they prey on mosquito and other flying insects. You can see how their first two pairs of legs form a basket shape which they use to scoop up prey as they fly.

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