July 18, 2025

Zigging and zagging. Flying back and forth. A long, icy white body, with four interesting wings. It’s a male Common Whitetail Dragonfly (Plathemis lydia), with a body that is approximately 2 inches in length. The female is slightly smaller with a brown body. And those translucent wings? The females’ wings are similar with a slightly different pattern.

They’re widespread in North America, in all 48 of the contiguous United States, parts of eastern Mexico, and also southern Canada. Living as adults, just a few weeks.

Often found near bodies of water, whether a trickle of a stream, a large pond or just a small vernal pool. These Dragonflies eat many different flying insects such as mosquitoes, midges, flies, moths, and butterflies, catching their prey mid-air.

To aid in catching those insects mid-air, Dragonflies can move each of their four wings individually giving them the ability to fly backwards, up and down, hover, and make sharp turns.

Hmmm. Sounds like a drone!

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