United States and Canada
This is the largest, most widely distributed, and perhaps most colorful small pennant species in the region.
A striking skimmer with distinctive orange and dark brown/black patterned wings and yellowish to red face. Newly emerged adults have a more yellow look and darken to orange in the males and to a lesser extent in the females as well. The abdomen has yellow dorsal markings that also darken to red in males and again tend to remain more yellow in females. A pond/lake species that can become locally abundant in an appropriate habitat. Often called butterfly-like for its fluttery flight, Pennants like to perch on the end of vegetation waving in the wind like a pennant. June through September in the north part of its range up to all year in Florida.
Its common name is descriptive because of its distinctive orange and brown or black wings. The face is yellowish or olivaceous, becoming darker with age and red in males. The thorax is yellowish-green with a dark middorsal stripe and narrow lateral stripes on the sutures. The midlateral stripe is usually not continuous after the spiracle. This is the only species with completely yellowish-orange wings marked with broad dark brown or black stripes and a red pterostigma. The abdomen is slender with pale yellow dorsal spots on segments 3-7 that become red with age.
Size: Total length: 30-42 mm; abdomen: 20-30 mm; hindwing: 27-35 mm.
Similar Species (south-central US): This is a very recognizable species. Banded Pennant (C. fasciata) has clear wings with black bands and Calico Pennant (C. elisa) is smaller with patterning on otherwise clear wings.
Habitat: Lakes, ponds, borrow pits and marshes with emergent vegetation
Natural History: This species may be locally abundant. It forages from atop tall grasses, weeds and stems in open fields some distance from the water. It perches uniquely, with the fore- and hindwings in different planes. The forewings are held somewhat vertically and the hindwings horizontally. Most activity takes place in the early to midmorning hours. Females lay eggs similarly to other species, accompanied by males. Its fluttering flight has been compared to that of a butterfly.
Distribution: Widespread throughout eastern U.S. and Canada west to Wyoming and New Mexico.
Source: Abbott, J.C. 2006-2010. OdonataCentral: An online resource for the distribution and identification of Odonata. Available at OdonataCentral.
Edited by Drew Weber (9/24/2015). Edited by Ryan Chrouser (9/23/2015).
