Three Different Common Whitetails, Three Appearances

Here are 3 different-looking Common Whitetail dragonflies, all ones I met late last spring.

The 1st picture is of a mature male, easily noticed by that prominent white tail (really the abdomen) that provides the species with its common name. But also look at the wings. There's a bit of black where the wings attach to the thorax, then it's basically clear (if a little veiny), followed by large black patches before turning clear again at the ends.

June 15, 2023 at Sourland Mountain Preserve
Photo 300989072, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Next observe the female of the species [1]. First notice the lack of a pure white abdomen, which is the most obvious clue that this is something a little different. But there's also wing differences. While the black strip close to the thorax surrounded by transparent wings are still present, note that the black patch further out on the wing is smaller and doesn't span the entire wing. And while this is followed by more wing transparency, the wings terminate in black. The female's wings are also different, provided you look at them closely.

June 15, 2023 at Sourland Mountain Preserve
Photo 300993349, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Why use wing patterns to differentiate the males and the females? Because of the next picture, where a Common Whitetail lacks the white abdomen but has the wing pattern of a male. This is an immature male who, as he matures, will acquire a white abdomen very much like the male in the 1st picture.

June 15, 2023 at Sourland Mountain Preserve
Photo 300993249, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

[1] At least it's probably a female Common Whitetail. My understanding is that the female Twelve-spotted Skimmer - a relative - looks pretty similar. Still, Common Whitetails greatly outnumber Twelve-spotted Skimmers here and most other places I go, so there's an excellent chance this is a female Common Whitetail.