Eureka! I found one of my “Great White Whale” dragonfly species after years of fruitless searching.

30 MAY 2018 | Northern Virginia | Gray Petaltail (female)
A Gray Petaltail dragonfly (Tachopteryx thoreyi) was spotted at a forested seep, shown below. This individual is a female, as indicated by her rounded hind wings and terminal appendages. Thanks to Mike Boatwright for verifying my tentative identification of the gender.
Gray Petaltail is classified as an uncommon species of odonate. It is a prized addition to my “life list” of dragonflies!
The following map shows all official records for Gray Petaltail in the United States of America.

DSA Distribution Viewer | Gray Petaltail
Source Credit: Abbott, J.C. 2006-2018. OdonataCentral: An online resource for the distribution and identification of Odonata. Available at http://www.odonatacentral.org. (Accessed: June 13, 2018).
Key: blue dots = Dot Map Project; green dots = Accepted records; yellow dots = Pending records.
Copyright © 2018 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.
Tags: Family Petaluridae (Petaltails), female, forest seep, Gray Petaltail dragonfly, habitat specialist, Tachopteryx thoreyi, terminal appendages
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