Complete Guide To The Common Whitetail Dragonfly

Common Whitetail Dragonfly Notes

• Common Whitetail dragonflies are found throughout North Carolina.
  • They fly between March and October.
• Common Whitetail dragonflies are easy to observe casually as they:
  • Inhabit many areas humans tend to be, like ponds, retaining pools, lakes, and nature trails near water.
  • Like to perch out in the open and on the ground.
  • They are especially common around freshwater ponds and lakes with muddy bottoms as they are attracted to the brown color of mud (Dunkle 2000).
• The males of this species are very territorial.
  • They defend territories of 20-180 square yards (Dunkle 2000).
  • Male Common Whitetail dragonflies use their conspicuous, bright white abdomens in threat displays against rival males who intrude on their territories.
    • The defending males raise their abdomens above the level of their heads and thoraxes and fly to intercept encroachers, which presumably makes them appear both larger and more intimidating.
    • Defeated males signal submission by lowering their white abdomens.
• Unfortunately, male Common Whitetail dragonflies pay a high price for their determined territoriality—they are more vulnerable to predators because male-male aggression:
  • Positions both the resident males and the encroaching males out in the open, farther away from protective cover.
  • Distracts their attention away from watching for lurking threats.
  • Is an energy-intensive activity that diverts energy and resources away from other activities, like predator avoidance.
• Additionally, the males’ white abdomens are very conspicuous and more likely to draw the attention of predators like birds.
  • Accordingly, male-male territoriality likely played a role in some subtle, but very important, differences between the wings of male and female Common Whitetail dragonflies.
  • A study that researched wing morphology between the two sexes showed that, in comparison to females, male Common Whitetail dragonflies have:
    • Significantly shorter fore- and hind wings.
    • Narrower and pointier wings.
    • Lower fore- and hind wing areas.
    • Longer body lengths (Rubio et al. 2024, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0303690).
  • These differences mean that the wings of male Common Whitetails are adapted for faster flight, higher acceleration capacity, and higher agility, which gives them advantages over females in evading predators (Rubio et al. 2024, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0303690).