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.
23 MAY 2018 | Northern Virginia | forested seep
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, Tachopteryx thoreyi, terminal appendages
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