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Project Noah Nature School
Libellula Lydia or Plathemis lydia
Large dragonfly: Females have a brown body, but males are light powdery blue. All have spotted wings.
Riverbank near deciduous forest
Notice the triangles along the sides of the abdomen.
Spotted on Jul 21, 2012
Submitted on Jul 22, 2012
3 Comments
Hello Geodialist Thank you for your comment. You were right about the pattern found on its abdomen. I have since updated my log. This is exactly why I join Noah!
T
Welcome to Project Noah, Cynthia! I'm fairly certain the dragonfly in your photos is a female Common Whitetail dragonfly. The "stripes" along the sides of its abdomen are made of many small triangles, which is characteristic of Common Whitetails. In contrast, the abdominal stripes are continuous lines for female Twelve-spotted Skimmers. Otherwise the two species are virtually identical.