Female Lilypad Whiteface (Leucorrhinia caudalis), Finland

Lilypad Whiteface is a southern species in Finland and it is rather scarce and protected under the Nature Conservation Act. This was my first individual of this species and I was lucky enough to get some shots with my old Fujifilm compact camera. I still haven't seen this one again up to this day.

comments (10)

RMFelix

Lion

Great shot! Posted 9 years ago
1. Ari Parviainen
  
  King Cobra
  
  Thanks RMFelix. I only wish I had a better camera with me but I didn't own a DSLR back then :). Posted 9 years ago
2. 1. RMFelix
    
    Lion
    
    I was dazzled seeing this species that I didn't realize that is a female, not a male. Male L. caudalis have white pterostigmas, and flattened abdomen (check also terminal female appendix, broader abdomen...). It looks like it's not so easy to distinguish male specimens L. caudal vs L. albifrons, which is not this case. Check this: http://www.sudenkorento.fi/kwiki/Lilypad_Whiteface
    
    There are great photos that are not great records ;) yours is very good, and an excellent record for sure, cheers* Posted 9 years ago
  2. 1. Ari Parviainen
      
      King Cobra
      
      Well, that explains some difficulties I had with this one. I agree with you, especially after I found this site http://www.wazki.pl/wazki_leucorrhinia_caudalis.html
      It's in Polish but Google translator helped enough. There are excellent photos of both sexes and there are also similarly coloured (as mine) females.
      Huge thanks to you for correcting this. I really appreciate it! I must change the title right away... Posted 9 years ago
  3. Ferdy Christant
    
    Lion
    
    Actually, some would call this a wide-angle macro. Personally, I love the style where you get both the closeup as well as part of the surroundings in the same frame. Posted 9 years ago
  4. 1. Ari Parviainen
      
      King Cobra
      
      Wide-angle macro sounds like a great term :). In fact I like also loose framing where some of the surrounding habitat is visible. Thanks a lot for the great comment fchristant! Posted 9 years ago

Mark Ridgway

Lion

Nice shot Ari.. and a protected sp too.
Interesting name... that must be the blackest whiteface ever. :) Posted 9 years ago
1. Ari Parviainen
  
  King Cobra
  
  It is rather dark....except the white face of course :). Thanks Mark! Posted 9 years ago

Annette Flottwell

Lion

5cm!! you must have been super close. Excellent shot and excelent stalking! Posted 9 years ago
1. Ari Parviainen
  
  King Cobra
  
  I don't know why the exif shows only 5mm. I think the distance to the dragonfly was something like 20-30 cm. That Fuji compact has 18x zoom. Guess what, I was at work when I found this :). All the best objects are found at work. Maybe I have to carry a DSLR with me this summer ;o). Posted 9 years ago

The Lilypad whiteface

''Leucorrhinia caudalis'', the lilypad whiteface, is a species of dragonfly in the family Libellulidae. It is found in Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovenia, Sweden, and Ukraine. Its natural habitats are swamps and freshwater lakes. It is threatened by habitat loss.

Info 4 0

Similar species: Dragonflies And Damselflies

Species identified by Ari Parviainen