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Common Whitetail (Plathemis lydia)
Photo#287597
Copyright © 2009
John Pearson
Common Whitetail -
Plathemis lydia
-
Swamp White Oak Preserve, Nichols, Muscatine County, Iowa, USA
June 12, 2009
Size: ~5 cm
Several of these dragonflies were flying across grassy field interspersed with trees in bottomland, occasionally alighting on a log.
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Contributed by
John Pearson
on 12 June, 2009 - 11:35pm
Last updated 14 November, 2009 - 8:27pm
Same
This is the same species as your previous one (Celithemis lydia) but a male.
…
Minray Yang
, 13 June, 2009 - 12:43am
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Thanks for both IDs
Here is the link to the female:
…
John Pearson
, 13 June, 2009 - 7:40am
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We have these too
We've got these at our pond in central California. One male hangs out, guarding the pond from other males (3 of them). He gets so intent on protecting his territory, when a female shows up he often misses her. I did see him mate once and she immediately started dropping eggs into the pond. I didn't have my camera!
After chasing the other males off for hours he eventually gets too tired to defend and will let one or two rest near him.
…
Mellisa Fernandez
, 12 June, 2009 - 11:40pm
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