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.

Orthetrum cancellatum (left) and O. albistylum (right), appendages, male
Note the white appendages in male albistylum. In cancellatum they are black.

Orthetrum cancellatum (left) and O. albistylum (right), appendages, female
Note the white S10 and appendages in female albistylum. In cancellatum the appendages are black.