I was delighted to spot this female Unicorn Clubtail dragonfly (Arigomphus villosipes) yesterday (9 June) during a visit to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, my favorite nearby location for wildlife photography. Most of the Unicorn Clubtails that I have photographed in the past have been males, primarily at the edge of ponds, but this female was in a vegetated area away from the water.
How do I know this is a female? One of the most reliable ways is to look at the shape of the tips of the dragonfly’s abdomen (its “tail”). I have attached a photo of a male Unicorn Clubtail from a recent blog posting (second photo below) to visually illustrate some of the differences between a female and a male Unicorn Clubtail.
On rare occasions, though, I have spotted female Unicorn Clubtails flying over the water. Unlike some other clubtail dragonfly species that deposit their eggs into plant tissue, female Unicorn Clubtails oviposit by hovering and repeatedly tapping the tips of their abdomens directly on the surface of the water. I have been fortunate to observe this in the past and captured a shot from June 2019 (third photo below) that shows a flying female Unicorn Clubtail dragonfly with the ripples in the water from depositing eggs (click here for more details about that encounter).
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 