Widow Skimmer

Description:

The widow skimmer measures up to 2 inches long with a wingspan of up to 3 inches. Its body is dark brown, often with yellow stripes running along the abdomen that darken with age to black in males and dark brown in females. The fore and hind wings are blackish-brown from the body halfway to the tip, with the wing tips clear or smoky-brown. Mature males have white patches in the middle of each wing.

Habitat:

Miller Springs Park is a 360-acre park located below Belton Lake, on the Leon River, in Bell County, Texas. It contains diverse riparian terrain, including limestone bluffs, estuarial wetlands, mountain cedar hilltops, and riverside cottonwood stands. Numerous trails traverse prairie-like open spaces and forests of native cedar elm, live oak, and red oaks. Recent floods have created a new canyon that reveals numerous layers of sedimentary rock and fossils. Area wildlife includes white-tail deer, red foxes, coyotes, black squirrels, armadillos, and about 200 species of birds in the course of the year.