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Common Whitetail

Posted on Jun 30, 2016

Can you identify this extra close friend? Here we have the Common Whitetail (Plathemis lydia) dragonfly with this male being cooperative in hand for a moment as I took a look at those eyes and that face. Birds in hand look very much like…birds…you know, the ones we see from afar with our eyes, binoculars, and spotting scopes. Dragonflies often look so very different as the features we see while they are flitting through the air – stripes on the thorax or abdomen, colored wings, an overall body shade – are lost in the details of their complex face, head, and even the legs. Intricate beauty…

Common Whitetail dragonfly-6181

Common Whitetail dragonfly-6178

Scott Kruitbosch
Conservation & Outreach Coordinator