Widow Skimmer (female)

Description:

The Widow Skimmer is one of the group of dragonflies known as King Skimmers. Adult females have brown bodies with yellow stripes. Wings of both sexes are marked with prominent black basal bands.

Habitat:

This was in section 39 of the LBJ Grasslands. It was a dry prairie area or mesa. The soil had ocean fossils showing. Parts of this area of Texas have Crustaceous era ocean bottom exposed. There was a small pond near this sighting.

Notes:

Lyndon B. Johnson Grasslands is 20,313 acres located in north-central Texas. Before the federal government purchased them back in the late 1930s, the grasslands were mostly abandoned farms and ranches suffering from severe soil errosion from poor agricultural practices.