The Libellulidae family is the largest of the dragonfly families with over 1,000 species listed. 33 types are included on dragonfly checklists for Wisconsin.
Here is a Four Spot Skimmer Dragonfly (sometimes known as the Four Spot Chaser) that I came across on June 1, 2007. A wonderful specimen!
Due to their reported habit of finding a good perch to hunt from, this one posed again and again, allowing me to get closer and closer.
This guy was buzzing my head, returning to his/her perch and posing for another shot. At first I was hesitant to get too close, reading the head buzzing as a territory warning. It wasnt a warning to me, this guy was trying to catch the bugs that were buzzing around me, flushed up from my footsteps.
Taxonomy Below
| Four-spotted Skimmer Dragonfly | Libellula quadrimaculata | |
|---|---|---|
| Kingdom: | Animalia | Animals |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda | Arthropods |
| Superclass: | Hexapoda | Hexapods |
| Class: | Insecta | Insects |
| Subclass: | Pterygota | Winged Insects |
| Order: | Odonata | Dragonflies and Damselflies |
| Suborder: | Anisoptera | Dragonflies |
| Family: | Libellulidae | Common Skimmers |
| Genus: | Libellula | |
| Species: | Libellula quadrimaculata | Four-spotted Skimmer |