White-Tailed Skimmer (Orthetrum albistylum)

• English name: White-Tailed Skimmer
• German name: Östlicher Blaupfeil
• French name: Orthétrum à stylets blancs
• Dutch name: Witpuntoeverlibel
• Swedish name: Vitstjärtad sjötrollslända
• Norwegian name: N/A
• Finnish name: N/A
• Danish name: N/A
• Italian name: Frecciazzurra puntabianca
• Czech name: vážka bělořitná
• Slovenian name: Temni modrač
• Bulgarian name: Бяловърхо синилниче

White-Tailed Skimmer (Orthetrum albistylum)

Not present

Present before 1990

Present after 1990

Present before and after 1990

Present after 2015

Map data based on J.-P. Boudot & V. J. Kalkman (eds.),
Atlas of the European Dragonflies and Damselflies

General		• a medium-sized species which occurs in central and (south-)eastern Europe
Classification		• suborder: Anisoptera (dragonflies); family: Libellulidae
Conservation status		• IUCN Red List Europe: Least Concern
Scientific name		• Orthetrum albistylum (Selys, 1848)
Distribution		• click or tap the Map button above
Habitat		• lakes and ponds but also canals in rice fields, etc.
Dimensions		• typical body length: 45-50 mm; hindwing: 33-38 mm
Notes		• libellulids are 'sitters': males spend a lot of time perched at the water's edge, waiting for females
		➤ very similar to O. cancellatum but with a more slender abdomen and white appendages
Both sexes	Head	• the eyes are green (brown in immature animals)
	Wings	• the wings are hyaline, without coloured patches
Male	Thorax	• the thorax is brown with white bands on the side
	Abdomen	• the abdomen is dark yellow with black lines and is covered by a whitish pruinescence; the last three or four segments are mostly black
		➤ the upper appendages are white (but this whiteness may be obscured in some individuals)
Female	Thorax	• the thorax is beige-yellow with black lines on the side
	Abdomen	• the abdomen is beige-yellow with black lines laterally
		➤ S10 and the appendages are white
Photographs		• all of our photos below were made in central and northern Italy