On the 3rd of July 2006 I returned to the spot where the upper pics at this page (click here) were taken:- three rather different-looking Orthemis.
One this day I caught five Orthemis from the same spot (in Frio County, Texas) - and there were at least three others there. Based upon the ventral thoracic pattern and frons color, numbers 1,2, and 5 are O. discolor, Carmine Skimer, while numbers 3 and 4 are O. ferruginea, Roseate Skimmer.
I took a number of photos of each one at the time of capture (i.e. they were alive); they are presented on separate pages so that you can open multiple windows on your monitor to compare them. NOTE: I adjusted the images to counter a color-shift added by my camera, but the exact same adjustments were made to each set of five similar images for each specimen:
Number one
Number two
Number three
Number four
Number five
You will note that I also took photos of each prepared specimen (soaked in Acitate) - here is a photo of all five prepared specimens:
It is interesting to note how different-looking are the colors of the prepared specimens compared to the live animal.