HUDSONIAN WHITEFACE Leucorrhinia hudsonica

DRAGONFLIES AND DAMSELFLIES OF WEST VIRGINIA SPECIES PAGE

This dragonfly is at home on Hudson Bay—and in Alaska and the Yukon and Labrador and around all five Great Lakes. It makes it into northern and central Pennsylvania, too, but then there is a gap in the range, and it appears again in a small pocket of the Appalachian highlands: in Tucker and Pendleton Counties in West Virginia, and in Maryland's Garrett County and Virginia's Highland County.

Mature males of this species are black with subdued red spots on the abdomen. The last several segments of the abdomen are all-black. The red coloration is also seen on the thorax. The eyes are brownish, the face white, and a dense pubescence is on the thorax. A slight pubescence may be seen on the abdomen, too.

Females and immature males are similar, but instead of pale red coloration they have yellow.

In West Virginia look for these in highland bogs. July would be a good time to look for them. If you find them in a county other than Pendleton or Tucker, be sure to report your findings!

With this species look for a bright white face, extensive pale red on the thorax, and reddish spots on the abdomen.

This photo shows the bright white face and the dense pubescence of the thorax.

Mating pair, the male with red markings and the female with yellow.

All images on this page are © Stephen Cresswell.

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