Halloween Pennant

The Halloween Pennant is a colorful member of the skimmer family Libellulidae, named for its orange-and-black wing pattern reminiscent of the autumn holiday, though it is actually most common in summer. It belongs to the pennant group of dragonflies, so called for their habit of perching at the very tips of tall grasses and forbs, where they sway back and forth in the wind like small pennant flags.

Both males and females share the bold amber wings crossed with dark brown bands, making this one of the more instantly recognizable dragonflies in its range even at a distance, thanks to its habit of perching in the open atop vegetation rather than hiding low down.

Found across much of the eastern and central United States, the Halloween Pennant is a common and welcome sight around vegetated ponds and marshes throughout the warmer months.

• Medium dragonfly with broad, amber-orange wings crossed by dark brown bands, most prominent near the wingtips and midwing
• Body orange-brown with dark markings along the abdomen
• Distinctive perching posture, holding onto the very tip of a tall grass or plant stem, often swaying with the wind
• Broader-winged and more strongly banded than most other pennants in the genus Celithemis
• Lookalikes: Calico Pennant (Celithemis elisa) is smaller with a different wing pattern of small dark spots rather than broad bands

Common across the eastern and central United States and into southern Canada, the Halloween Pennant breeds in ponds, lakes, and marshes with abundant emergent and shoreline vegetation. Adults are most conspicuous perched on tall grasses, sedges, and shrub tips at the edges of these wetlands, and they are on the wing primarily from late spring through summer.

This species is famous for its exposed, flag-like perching habit, choosing the very top of a swaying grass stem or twig rather than tucking into cover, which makes it easy to spot even from a distance. From these perches, adults sally out to catch small flying insects before returning to the same or a nearby stem. As predators of small flying insects, Halloween Pennants play a role in controlling insect populations around wetland edges, and their conspicuous perching makes them a frequent target for birds and other predators as well.

Mating pairs form briefly, after which the female flies low over open water, tapping the tip of her abdomen to the surface to release eggs, often while the male hovers nearby or guards from a perch. Eggs hatch into aquatic nymphs that live among dense submerged and emergent vegetation, preying on small invertebrates as they develop through the summer. In most of its range, this species completes one generation per year, with nymphs typically overwintering before emerging as adults the following warm season.