David Element
Wildlife Photography and Digital Video Images
________________________________________Dragonflies
and Damselflies 21 - Black-tailed Skimmers
BLACK-TAILED
SKIMMER Orthetrum cancellatum (f, teneral)
BLACK-TAILED SKIMMER Orthetrum
cancellatum
(m)
BLACK-TAILED SKIMMER Orthetrum cancellatum (m) BLACK-TAILED
SKIMMERS Orthetrum cancellatum (f, m)
BLACK-TAILED SKIMMER Orthetrum cancellatum
(teneral)
·
The Black-tailed Skimmer Dragonfly Orthetrum cancellatum favours gravel-pits and other still or
slow-moving water habitats. Males are territorial and they settle frequently on
mud, gravel or fallen branches and react to passing rivals or females either by
trying to repel or mate with them respectively. The appearance of this common
and widespread dragonfly alters significantly with maturity and teneral
(freshly emerged) O. cancellatum
of both sexes are yellow with black markings (see the first and final photographs).
Mature males will develop a powdery blue pruinescence
(see second photograph) with the eponymous black tips to their abdomens but the
pruinescence may eventually wear away in over-mature
individuals and the pair shown in tandem are almost beyond recognition as they
were so worn! There are several similar European species so identification
errors of (particularly) worn individuals are entirely possible on the
Continent but in the UK there should be sufficient differences visible to
enable separation from the other species (Orthetrum and Libellula)
with blue pruinescence in the males. These
photographs were taken in the UK, France and Italy.
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