One of the drawbacks of being a bug is that people tend to lump you into groups. For instance, many folks would look at this insect and say it’s a ‘dragonfly’. While a Twelve-spotted skimmer is a type of dragonfly, it’s sorta like seeing a golden-crowned sparrow and just saying ‘it’s a sparrow’. True, but that falls short … not as bad as just calling it a bug or an insect, but still.
I have been paying more attention to all the dragonflies and damselflies down at Capitol Lake (where I often walk). There are so many different varieties of these little critters … if you aren’t paying attention, they just all blur into a single amorphous category of “bugs”. In order to identify the photos, I’ve had to purchase some nature guides … bug books.
I like trying to track down the species… and I think I have these locked in … but if anyone disagrees with my identification, please let me know. I’m interested in accuracy, and my college studies were in geology, chemistry and math. not much help there in id-ing bugs.
Male Camera: Nikon D850 Lens: Zeiss Milvus 135mm ISO 400 1/500 sec f/11 Female Camera: Nikon D850 Lens: Nikon 105mm Macro ISO 200 1/320 sec f/9