Libellula Quadrimaculata - Four Spotted Skimmer - Golden Ears Park, Maple Ridge BC - June 01, 2008.

A Four Spotted Skimmer resting on a Lupinus Polyphyllus (Large-leaved Lupine) flower spike at water's edge in Golden Ears Park beside Alouette Lake.

This skimmer is usually gray-brown to yellow-brown in overall color, except for the back end of the abdomen. The thorax has thin yellowish stripes and black marks on it's sides and the abdomen has a continuation/ variation of the yellow stripes like racing stripes along it's side. Each wing has a small dark spot in the middle of the leading edge (thus the name four spotted skimmer) and a golden strip along the front edge of each wing can be prominent or barely noticeable. This skimmer likes marshy edges of lakes and bogs from sea level to middle elevations and is the earliest dragonfly to fly in spring (April to late October).

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