White-Tailed Skimmer
(Orthetrum albistylum)

The White-Tailed Skimmer is a fairly large dragonfly with a patchy distribution in Central and Eastern Europe, but where it occurs it can do so in massive numbers. As a case in point, the rice fields of Northern Italy hold huge populations of the species. Orthetrum albistylum is very similar to its much more widespread congener the Black-Tailed Skimmer, and yet it's sufficiently different to allow easy identification in the field; the species' main distinguishing feature (apart from its slightly more slender build and slightly less intense colours) is the white colour of the male's appendages and of the female's S10 and appendages.

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