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) | |
| Name genus | • Orthetrum: from Grk. ὀρθός = straight, parallel +; ἦτρον = abdomen ⇒ Newman described Orthetrum species as having the 'abdomen laterally parallel' (as distinct from Sympetrum species, which have the 'abdomen laterally compressed') | |
| Name species | • albistylum: from Lat. albus, -a, -um = white +; stilus = pointed stick, pen, stylus (the latter word is used in entomology to refer to the upper appendages) ⇒ for the male's white upper appendages | |
| 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 |
LineDrawing: the male's abdomen and the female's abdomen in dorsal view.
