Nannothemis bella

Denise D. Greaves, Ph.D.

On the afternoon of 11 June of this year, I ventured over to Browning Mill Pond in the Arcadia Management Area here in Rhode Island. Just east of the pond is a fish hatchery, which has a lot of boggy areas that attract bog-loving dragonflies such as Nannothemis bella (elfin skimmer) in Figure 1. These beautiful creatures are about three quarters of an inch long. The one shown here is a female—note the bee-like coloration that most likely serves a defensive purpose. The thorax and abdomen of males are black when young and turn to dusty blue when older. This photo did not come without a price—while I was there my cell phone fell into water and perished, which demonstrates that even klutzes can take a respectable photograph.

The photo was taken with an Olympus SP-350—a small digital camera with 8 megapixels resolution.

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