#3735 · 🪽 dragonflies & damselflies

Common Whitetail

Plathemis lydia

LCleast concern 🪽 Dragonflies & damselflies 📍 outside Europe

10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences

1. © Greg Lasley · CC BY-NC 4.0
2. © Cameron Eckert · CC BY-NC 4.0
3. © Ron Masters · CC BY-NC 4.0
4. © Andrew Reding · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
5. © SalvadorDalaiLama · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
6. © Michael J. Papay · CC BY 4.0
7. © luhmant · CC BY-NC 4.0
8. © scibadger · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
9. © Nathan Clark · CC BY-NC 4.0
10. © selwynq · CC BY-NC 4.0

what is it?

The common whitetail or long-tailed skimmer ( Plathemis lydia ) is a common dragonfly across much of North America, with a striking and unusual appearance. The male's chunky white body (about 5 cm or 2 inches long), combined with the brownish-black bands on its otherwise translucent wings, give it a checkered look. Females have a brown body and a different pattern of wing spots, closely resembling that of female Libellula pulchella , the twelve-spotted skimmer. Whitetail females can be distinguished...

base stats

NL sightings 0iNaturalist, research grade
worldwide 132,127iNaturalist observations
threat LCleast concern

Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).

fun facts

No confirmed wild sightings in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: you'd have to travel for this one.
132,127 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
Scientifically named by Dru Drury in 1773 (253 years ago).