Common Whitetail

Plathemis lydia

The Common Whitetail is a beautiful dragonfly with white patches on its wings. It loves to fly around ponds and sunny spots, making it a fun sight to see!

Hábitat: Wetlands

Aspecto

The Common Whitetail is a medium-sized dragonfly with a robust body. Males have a broad, chalky-white abdomen and dark patches at the base and middle of their clear wings. Females are yellowish-brown with a row of triangular spots along the abdomen and similar wing markings.

ReinoAnimaliaFiloArthropodaClaseInsectaOrdenOdonataFamiliaLibellulidaeGéneroPlathemis

Common Whitetail

Categoría

Insectos

Rareza

Common

Peligro

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Snaps

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Datos interesantes

A single Common Whitetail can eat hundreds of mosquitoes every single day!

Baby Common Whitetails can live underwater for several years before they fly!

Dragonflies have been zipping around Earth for over 300 million years!

They hold their six spiky legs like a basket to scoop up prey right out of the air!

Habilidades especiales

Common Whitetail has enormous compound eyes that help them spot tiny flying insects in almost every direction while hunting.

Common Whitetail can fly straight up, backward, or hover perfectly still because of their two pairs of independently moving wings.

Common Whitetail larvae have a special hinged jaw that shoots out to grab and catch prey underwater very quickly.

Medidas y detalles

Envergadura: 70-80 mm
Tamaño: 39-50 mm
Esperanza de vida: 30-60 días
Velocidad de vuelo: 45 km/h
Cantidad de patas: 6

Dieta y alimentación

Common Whitetails are fierce insect hunters, eating many different kinds of small flying insects.

Diferencias por edad: Larvae (naiads) eat aquatic insects, tadpoles, and small fish, while adults only eat flying insects.

Alimentos principales

mosquitos
flies
gnats
midges
small moths

Método de búsqueda

Pursuit

Conexiones ecológicas

hunts

Yellow Fever Mosquito

Aedes aegypti

Adults prey on this mosquito species.

hunts

Common Green Darner

Anax junius

Larger dragonflies occasionally prey on smaller ones.

eaten by

Eastern Kingbird

Tyrannus tyrannus

Adult dragonflies are a food source for these birds.

eaten by

Bluegill

Lepomis macrochirus

Fish prey on Common Whitetail larvae underwater.

Rasgos

Solitario

Los animales solitarios viven solos durante la mayor parte de su vida y solo interactúan con otros para aparearse o cuidar de sus crías.

Aéreo

Las criaturas aéreas pasan una parte importante de su vida en el aire, utilizando el vuelo para diversas actividades como la caza, la migración o la anidación.

Colorido

Colorido describe a organismos u objetos que exhiben una amplia variedad de colores brillantes y distintivos.

Insectívoro

Este rasgo identifica a los organismos cuya dieta consiste principalmente en insectos y otros pequeños invertebrados.

Humedal

Este rasgo de hábitat identifica especies que se encuentran en humedales, que son áreas de tierra saturadas de agua, ya sea permanente o estacionalmente, e incluyen marismas, pantanos y ciénagas.