PAINTED SKIMMER
Besides Cedar Bog, I have also seen this species at Cox Arboretum, Oakes Quarry and several other Beaver Creek Wetlands parks, Caesar Creek Wildlife Area, Buck Creek, and Grant Park. The preferred habitat is shallow wetlands and shallow ponds.
This gorgeous insect is a Painted Skimmer, one of our most beautiful dragonflies.
This is a teneral Painted Skimmer photographed at the Buck Creek State Park spillway.
Cedar Bog has a good population of Painted Skimmers. This species is also partially migratory, and in a favorable year, they can turn up in many locations.
In some years, I see this species at numerous locations, and in other years they are quite scarce. It all depends on whether we get a large influx of migrants.
Painted Skimmers have an early flight period. They fly primarily in May and June in our area. However, I have also found several newly-emerged individuals in late June. There might be complex migration patterns at work with this species.
Below is a Painted Skimmer at Oakes Quarry. Other than Cedar Bog, Oakes Quarry is one of the most reliable locations for this species in our area.