August 1 Lady Whitetail Skimmer

I've become more fascinated by dragonflies lately as I see more and more buzz over the lakes and learn just how species there are in the world. According to the EEK! Wisconsin page, there are 110 species of dragonflies that breed in Wisconsin in six different families. There are 450 in North America and at least 5,100 on earth. That is almost the same number of mammal species! This one is a common whitetail (Libellula plathemis), but its tail is not white because it is the female. Same family as the blue dasher, yet this dragonfly has a stout abdomen and three dark spots on each wing. Skimmers received their name via the females' habit of dropping eggs into water during a low pass over the pond. Usually the dragonfly life cycle is 1.egg 2. underwater nymph 3. flying adult. However the male adult of this species will start out with a dark abdomen which somehow turns white. Does it shed its skin again, or does the color simply change with age? Either way the adults will only live for a few months, after spending up to four years as nymphs at the bottom of a pond.