Title
As The Day Fades Away
Artist
Deena Stoddard
Medium
Photograph
Description
The Common Whitetail is one of our most frequently seen dragonflies. It grows to about 1 3/4 inches long and has a stocky body. Males have a chalky white abdomen which makes them easy to identify. Males also have a broad, dark brown band in the center of each wing.
Female whitetails have a brown abdomen with yellowish dash-like markings on the sides. They have brown blotches in the center of each wing and at the tips.
Both sexes have brown faces and brown legs. Common Whitetails live just about anywhere there is water, including lakes, ponds, marshes, rivers, and streams. They occur in very large numbers at beaver ponds. Common Whitetails are perchers, meaning they often rest on logs, rocks, low plant stems, or even on the ground. Males are very territorial, guarding an edge of water 50 to 100 feet long. They are constantly active, perching only a short time before continuing to patrol their turf. When one male sees another, it shows off by raising its white abdomen above its body while flying in the air. They will also bang into each other while attempting to steal females. Mating only takes about three seconds. After mating, a female will dip her abdomen into the water's surface and lay up to 1000 eggs. Eggs hatch into aquatic nymphs, called naiads. Naiads live underwater, feeding on insects, small tadpoles, and other animals as they grow. Each time a naiad molts, it gets closer to being an adult. When the naiad is ready, it crawls out of the water on a plant stem and molts one last time before the adult dragonfly emerges. Common Whitetails are active from early Spring until Fall. They eat huge amounts of insects, including mosquitoes, flies, and other flying insects. They even go after smaller dragonflies. Whitetails use their two front legs to grab prey in flight. Common Whitetails are sometimes seen far from water, in gardens, fields, and roadsides.
Whitetails can tolerate low quality water better than most dragonfly species. This means you may still see them, even when water is polluted. Predators of adult whitetails include birds, frogs, and other insect eaters. Fish, turtles, and other animals eat naiads.
All images © 2011-2018 Deena Stoddard ~ All Rights Reserved
Uploaded
July 30th, 2013
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