DRAGONFLIES AND DAMSELFLIES OF WEST VIRGINIA SPECIES PAGE
Very few dragonflies are as small as this one—about one inch—so
it is no wonder both the first and the last words in the common name refer
to the quality of being small. The Latin species name, too, minuscula,
refers to this dragonfly’s diminutive extent.
On the mature male, segments 8, 9, and 10 of the abdomen are black,
and the appendages are whitish. The face of mature males is dark metallic
blue to black. If you are particularly observant you’ll notice a dark
patch on the hind wing near where it joins the body.
Females and immature males have a thorax that is tan to yellow, and
an abdomen that is marked in yellow and black, and entirely dark at the
rear. Appendages once again are whitish, while the basal spot on the hindwings
is amber instead of black.
As of 2004 there were only two West Virginia county records for this
species: Pendleton and Greenbrier. In 2005 the individual shown on this
page was photographed in Randolph County, making a third county record.
On mature males, the rear of the abdomen is black, while the appendages
are white.
The coloration of the face appeared to me metallic blue in the field,
but the camera recorded it as black, and the field guides say black as well.
