Quick IdentificationWhite Legged Damselfly (Platycnemis pennipes)
Male White Legged Damselfly
Quick ID Guide
Welcome to my quick identification guide of the White Legged Damselfly.
These graphics are meant as a guide to the key identifying features of both the male and the female dragonflies.
The text section has been kindly written & supplied by Mr Ken Crick.
For a more complete species description, follow the link below to the White Legged Damselfly narrative.
Creamy white just after emergence, males mature to a pale pastel blue. The upper surface of the thorax has one full length wide antehumeral stripe either side of the centreline. Parallel to this is a second fine stripe; on some specimens this fine line is interrupted by the black outline. On the upper surface of each abdominal segment is a longitudinal line that thickens and splits on segments 7 to 10. These black lines seem to become more intense with age. The tibias of the mid and hind legs are broad white feather like structures and the source of the vernacular name.
Female White Legged Damselfly
Alternatively follow the link to the main species page.
Not the species you were looking for.
All of the images and graphics are by Chris Brooks.
The near white immature females have brown eyes; each abdominal segment has a pair of dark spots to the rear. With increasing maturity these spots develop into parallel longitudinal lines split by a fine line of the dominant background colour. The female darkens slightly with age to a bleached straw with possibly a hint of green.
Chris Brooks Photography
(www.dragonfly-images.co.uk)
