The Dot-tailed Whiteface Does A Body Slam

On a recent trip to Heart Lake here in Anacortes, I observed a new behavior exhibited by the Dot-tailed Whiteface. Here's a picture of an individual of this species from Heart Lake:



Notice the chalk-white face, black eyes, clear wings, and black body with a yellow dot near the tip of the abdomen. This is surely one of the easiest IDs to make in dragonflying.

Getting back to the behavior, I was taking a video of general dragonfly activity at the lake. When I got home and viewed the video on the computer I noticed some unusual movement in the lower right corner. On closer inspection, I saw that a bluet was harassing a Dot-tailed Whiteface, eventually grabbing its abdomen. The whiteface immediately did a spin move—similar to what dragonflies do in a spin-dry, only in this case it was "shedding" the damselfly rather than water.

Here's a video clip showing the body slam. It's grainy because it's an enlargement of the lower right corner of the full video:

You can see the full video at the following link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuY34erRHpY

Fascinating behavior, where the dragonfly adapts one behavior—spin-dry to shed water—to another ver different situation—spin-dry to shed a damselfly.

Find out more about the splash-dunk/spin-dry behavior, as well as about the Dot-tailed Whiteface, in my new field guide, Common dragonflies and Damselflies of the Pacific Coast. You can find the book at the following link:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1934199265/ref=s9u_simh_gw_i1?ie=UTF8&fpl=fresh&pd_rd_i=1934199265&pd_rd_r=4Q8FNWQMZKPZ7GYWQB31&pd_rd_w=c79uB&pd_rd_wg=lb3xg&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=&pf_rd_r=038QHD1N13Z2D7NWAP1Q&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=1cf9d009-399c-49e1-901a-7b8786e59436&pf_rd_i=desktop

You never know when a trip to the field will result in new behavior.