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Mature Male: Every wing of the desert whitetail is marked with a small, dark, elongated spot, possibly with a clear center, near the base, and with a large, dark band spanning the width of the wing, from the center to the outer fourth of the wing near the tip. Its bands are lighter in color down its
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The male will establish and defend territories at their choice breeding locations. After both genders mate, the female flies singly, without the male attached, to lay her eggs. She does this process by dipping the tip of her abdomen in the shallows of desert seeps and ponds while hovering above the
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of the desert whitetail is medium-sized with a length of 21 to 25 mm (0.83 to 0.98 in). Its abdomen is rounded, giving it a short, stocky appearance known as the sprawler form. There is a single, blunt hook on the tops of abdominal segments two through six, the tallest occurs on segment
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Desert whitetail naiads live in submerged aquatic grasses and sedges. They do not actively chase after their prey but wait for it to pass by, a strategy which affords them protection from other predators. These naiads will emerge as adults at night. Adults generally fly from summer to fall. They
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Female: Each wing of the female whitetail is marked with a small, dark, elongated spot with a clear center, near the base, and with a pair of thick, wavy, brownish bands spanning the width of the wing. The wingtip is sometimes clouded with yellow. The female thorax and abdomen are grayish brown.
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of the desert whitetail feeds on many aquatic insects, including mosquito larvae, other aquatic fly larvae, mayfly larvae, and freshwater shrimp. It also eats small fish and tadpoles.
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This dragonfly species can be found near ponds, lakes, and seepage pools in desert areas. In
California, the desert whitetail can be found in all its deserts.
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Every side of the thorax is marked with a pair of yellowish stripes, and at the top of the abdomen is marked with two parallel lines of thick yellow dashes.
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The desert whitetail will eat almost any soft-bodied flying insect such as mosquitoes, flies, butterflies, moths, mayflies, and flying ants or termites.
569:’s (IUCN) 2016 assessment, the desert whitetail is at “least concern” for extinction. Its population trend is not known, but is believed to be stable.
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557:. This genus includes two species. The desert whitetail looks similar to the common whitetail which has much less white on the wing.
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Desert whitetails fly generally from early July to early
September. This whitetail also has a flight season from April to October.
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Immature male: The wings of immature males appear much like those of the mature males, while their bodies are marked like females.
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sometimes fly from spring to winter. The desert whitetail perches on twigs and rocks. This is where the hunting occurs.
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center compared to its edges. The area between its base of the wing and this band may be clouded with white color. The
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to 2 inches (41 to 51 mm). It has a wingspan of 65 to 75 mm (2.6 to 3.0 in). This dragonfly has a broad
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four. There is also a single, rear-facing spine on each side of abdominal segments eight and nine.
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398:. Mature males, females, and immature males of desert whitetails look different:
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The desert whitetail is a medium-sized dragonfly with length of
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60:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
616:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T51280207A80689475.en
636:ITIS Standard Report Page: Plathemis subornata
567:International Union for Conservation of Nature
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120:Learn how and when to remove this message
551:which is the other species in the genus
646:Plathemis subornata (Desert Whitettail)
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651:Dragonflies, Anisoptera, of California
7:
58:adding citations to reliable sources
849:IUCN Red List least concern species
602:IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
879:Fauna of the Western United States
874:Fauna of the Eastern United States
480:. It also can be found in Mexico.
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440:The desert whitetail is found in
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547:This species is related to the
45:needs additional citations for
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869:Insects of the United States
361:is often put into the genus
889:Fauna of the Sonoran Desert
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884:Fauna of the Mojave Desert
894:Insects described in 1861
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183:Scientific classification
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859:Odonata of North America
609:: e.T51280207A80689475.
591:Paulson, D.R. (2017).
54:improve this article
27:Species of dragonfly
670:Plathemis subornata
595:Plathemis subornata
474:U.S. Virgin Islands
343:Plathemis subornata
324:Libellula subornata
302:Plathemis subornata
153:Conservation status
18:Plathemis subornata
539:surface of water.
346:) is a species of
69:"Desert whitetail"
864:Insects of Mexico
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821:Open Tree of Life
662:Taxon identifiers
565:According to the
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284:P. subornata
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137:Desert whitetail
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16:(Redirected from
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327:(Hagen, 1861)
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65:Find sources:
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43:This article
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854:Libellulidae
669:
620:. Retrieved
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561:Conservation
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534:Reproduction
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436:Distribution
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359:P. subornata
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355:Libellulidae
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260:Libellulidae
246:Infraorder:
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52:Please help
47:verification
44:
782:NatureServe
743:iNaturalist
843:Categories
573:References
478:Washington
462:New Mexico
446:California
250:Anisoptera
220:Arthropoda
80:newspapers
554:Plathemis
364:Libellula
348:dragonfly
278:Species:
271:Plathemis
206:Kingdom:
200:Eukaryota
787:2.112427
774:51280207
704:BugGuide
693:BioLib:
685:Q2022740
679:Wikidata
454:Delaware
450:Colorado
409:pruinose
315:Synonyms
256:Family:
216:Phylum:
210:Animalia
196:Domain:
173:IUCN 3.1
110:May 2023
735:4302511
525:Ecology
484:Habitat
442:Arizona
396:abdomen
389:⁄
350:in the
266:Genus:
240:Odonata
236:Order:
230:Insecta
226:Class:
171: (
94:scholar
826:874628
761:101810
748:109630
722:983630
696:229340
622:23 May
476:, and
466:Oregon
458:Kansas
405:thorax
352:family
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813:92859
800:70401
709:86128
519:naiad
513:Naiad
505:Adult
470:Texas
429:naiad
423:Naiad
376:Adult
101:JSTOR
87:books
795:NCBI
769:IUCN
756:ITIS
730:GBIF
624:2023
607:2017
517:The
500:Diet
427:The
336:The
73:news
717:EoL
611:doi
56:by
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
