The Chalk Fronted Corporal is easily identified by the wide white shoulder bars on top of the thorax in males. These bars appear gray in females, and tan in juveniles. The male has white on the basal half of the abdomen and the female has a limited amount of white there as well. The wings are clear.
As with many dragonflies, the female Chalk-fronted Corporal is colored differently than the male. The female is a reddish brown with a dark strip down the abdomen which is visible when looking down on the female dragonfly.
| Chalk-fronted Corporal | Libellula julia | |
|---|---|---|
| Kingdom: | Animalia | Animals |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda | Arthropods |
| Superclass: | Hexapoda | Hexapods |
| Class: | Insecta | Insects |
| Subclass: | Pterygota | Winged Insects |
| Order: | Odonata | Dragonflies and Damselflies |
| Suborder: | Anisoptera | Dragonflies |
| Family: | Libellulidae | Common Skimmers |
| Genus: | Ladona | |
| Species: | Ladona julia | Chalk-fronted Corporal |