Common Whitetails (Plathemis lydia) are among the first dragonflies to appear in the spring and one of the last to disappear in the autumn. I spotted this handsome male Common Whitetail last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.
I love taking photos of everyday species, ones that may be ignored by many others. I like what Kevin Munroe wrote about Common Whitetails on his wonderful website Dragonflies of Northern Virginia:
“Dragonfly geeks like myself tend to turn our noses up at the ubiquitous and ever-present whitetail – but thank goodness for them! Often seen in large numbers, almost swarm-like, they’re essential members of the urban and suburban food chain. There they are, eating mosquitos (both as larvae and adults) in our urban parks where few other dragonflies can help us out. And literally everything eats them: praying mantids, birds, frogs, raccoons, fish, spiders.”
You may not be as much of a dragonfly enthusiast as I am, but I am sure that you can find equally beautiful and fascinating things in your immediate surroundings, if you take the time to seek and savor them—beauty is everywhere.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
I may not know a lot of dragonflies, but I sure do know beauty, and this common whitetail is stunning. Thanks for the great photo, Mike, and narrative from you and your friend Kevin. Cheers to beauty.
Thanks, Jet. Beauty comes in so many different shapes and sizes and colors. In fact, I would argue that it is the diversity of our world that makes it so wonderfully beautiful.
So true! There is plenty of beauty even in the”mundane”. The other thing to remember is what may be common to you may not be common to someone else. I’m no dragonfly expert, but I’m not familiar with the common whitetail, so for me, seeing the photo was a real treat!
Wow. The details.. spectacular!
Great Image Mike! Here they mostly moved on!
Most of my local dragonfly species are now gone, but keep looking just to be sure.