Halloween Pennant Dragonfly by David Whited

Halloween Pennant Dragonfly

David Whited

Halloween Pennant Dragonfly

Digital photography

Inv: MM-1224

The Halloween Pennant (*Celithemis eponina*) is a vividly colored dragonfly found across eastern and central North America, easily recognized by its amber-orange wings banded with dark brown patches and its yellow-and-black striped abdomen, a pattern that gives it its festive name; it favors ponds, lakes, and marshy areas with open vegetation, where it has a distinctive habit of perching high atop grass stems and twigs, swaying in the wind like a little flag (the "pennant" part of its name), while hunting mosquitoes and other small flying insects on the wing, typically from late spring through late summer with sightings peaking in July and August.