Comparison of Twelve-Spotted Skimmer and Common Whitetail Dragonflies
This is a comparison of some commonly confused species of eastern dragonflies. The two females of the species are very similar in their wing markings, but have a tell-tale difference - the Twelve-spotted Skimmer females have a straight abdominal stripe, while Common Whitetail females have diagonal dashes along the abdomen (see note).
Similarly, the immature members of the species can be difficult to ID. The immatures of each are under the adult females. The immature Twelve-spotted Skimmers are similar to the adult females, but their abdominal stripe is much fainter - imm. males will slowly gain the colors in their wings to resemble an adult male as they mature.
Immature male Common Whitetails have the same diagonal stripes along the abdomen, but have a wing pattern that more closely resemble the adults.
Created with fd's Flickr Toys.
Comparison of Twelve-Spotted Skimmer and Common Whitetail Dragonflies
This is a comparison of some commonly confused species of eastern dragonflies. The two females of the species are very similar in their wing markings, but have a tell-tale difference - the Twelve-spotted Skimmer females have a straight abdominal stripe, while Common Whitetail females have diagonal dashes along the abdomen (see note).
Similarly, the immature members of the species can be difficult to ID. The immatures of each are under the adult females. The immature Twelve-spotted Skimmers are similar to the adult females, but their abdominal stripe is much fainter - imm. males will slowly gain the colors in their wings to resemble an adult male as they mature.
Immature male Common Whitetails have the same diagonal stripes along the abdomen, but have a wing pattern that more closely resemble the adults.
Created with fd's Flickr Toys.