Common Whitetail
Plathemis lydia
The Common Whitetail is a widespread North American dragonfly found around ponds, marshes, slow streams, and other sunny wetlands. Adults perch on bare ground, rocks, or low vegetation, then launch into quick flights to catch small flying insects. Males are territorial and easily recognized by their broad white abdomen and dark-banded wings, while females and young males are more mottled brown. Like other dragonflies, it spends its juvenile life as an aquatic nymph before emerging into a swift aerial predator.
- Type
- Wing / Swift
- Conservation status
- LC
Growth chain
- ?
- Common Whitetail