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Dennis Skillman | all galleries >> Galleries >> Dragonflies and Damselflies > Common Whitetail (Plathemis lydia) (immature male), Brentwood Mitigation Area, Brentwood, NH.
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25-MAY-2008

Common Whitetail (Plathemis lydia) (immature male), Brentwood Mitigation Area, Brentwood, NH.

This one I find confusing. It has the wing pattern of a male Common Whitetail (Plathemis lydia) and the body of the female of this species (but not the wing pattern). According to "A Field Guide to the Dragonflies and Damselflies of Massachusetts", Nikula et al, 2nd edition. I finally read some more and discovered that this must be an immature male that has not yet developed the pruinosity of the abdomen that marks the mature male (p.152, 2nd para., Nikula et al).

Canon EOS 40D ,_MG_4162 copy.jpg
1/640s f/5.6 at 420.0mm iso400 full exif

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