frosted whiteface

Frosted whiteface is a small skimmer, 1⅛″ to 1 5 ⁄16″ long.

The thorax on mature males is brown with mostly black “shoulder” patches and small black spots on the back between the wing bases. There are no red markings on the thorax. The abdomen is black and stocky. Abdominal segments 1 through 4 are covered with a whitish, waxy bloom (pruinescence). The face is white. The wings are clear except for a small black patch at the base of the hindwings and a black thickened cell (stigma) at the leading edge of each wing. The region of the wing just beyond the forewing triangle has only two rows of cells. The legs are black.

Females have dull yellow spots on the dorsal surface of abdominal segments 2 through 7. The spots become smaller and narrower as they go down the abdomen and on segment 7 it is a thin line. Some females develop pruinescence like the male. They have an amber patch on the basal 20% of the wing.

Juveniles have a yellow thorax that quickly becomes brown with age. On juvenile males abdominal segments 1 through 3 are yellow and 4 through 10 are black. On juvenile females there are thin, yellow, dorsal spots on segments 4 through 7.

Total length: 1⅛″ to 1 5 ⁄16″

Belted whiteface (Leucorrhinia proxima) is larger and has a longer, more slender abdomen. Males have red spots on the thorax between the wing bases. The pruinescence on the abdomen sometimes extends to segment 6. The region of the wing just beyond the forewing triangle has 3 rows of cells.

Chalk-fronted corporal (Ladona julia) is larger, has a stockier abdomen, and has white “shoulder” patches.

Bog-bordered ponds, lakes, sometimes marsh-bordered ponds

Mid-May to mid-August

They hunt from low plants at wetland edges. Males perch on low vegetation and defend a territory of one to two square yards.

While the female deposits her eggs her mate will guard her by snatching and holding a rival male until the eggs are laid.

Sources

7, 18, 27, 29, 30, 82, 83

Biodiversity occurrence data published by: Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas (accessed through the Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas Portal, bellatlas.umn.edu, 7/28/2025).

Fairly common

Pruinose female

Pruinose female

Mature male

Leucorrhinia frigida (Frosted Whiteface)
Allen Chartier

Frosted Whiteface? (Libellulidae: Leucorrhinia frigida?) Male on Grass
Carl Barrentine