Identification: One of the most widely distributed species in the eastern United States. The wings are clear and the green face is prominent on males and females of all age classes. Young males and females are bright green becoming powder blue in older males, starting basally on the abdomen and the front of the thorax. The abdomen, before becoming obscured in older males, is black with green dorsolateral spots on abdominal segments 4-6 and yellow or pale cerci. Females have a ventrally projecting spout-like ovipositor below segment 9. It is not unusual to see green males with varying degrees of pruinosity.
Size: Total length: 36-48 mm; abdomen: 24-30 mm; hindwing: 30-34 mm.
Similar Species: Western Pondhawk (E. collocata) is darker overall, and males have black cerci. The abdomen of Western Pondhawk is also broader. In young males and females there is a dark dorsal abdominal stripe.
Great Pondhawk (E. vesiculosa) is larger with a more slender abdomen and dark rings on segments 4-7. Other similar skimmers can be distinguished by the face color and or markings in the wings.
Male Blue Dasher (Pachydiplax longipennis) superficially similar but has a striped thorax and a white face. Female Blue Dasher completely unlike female Eastern Pondhawk.
Habitat: Ponds, lakes, ditches, and slow moving creeks, streams and rivers.
Natural History: Its green color and common habit of resting on the ground, trash, logs or other objects, may result in brief confusion with clubtails, but unlike clubtails the eyes are widely joined on top of the head. This species regularly preys on a variety of small and large insects, up to and including other Eastern Pondhawks.
Eastern Pondhawk inhabits almost any slow moving body of water. They are often found around plants on the water surface, such as water lilies, lotus and duckweed, where males patrol their territories. Males of this species display a unique "leap frogging" behavior when defending territories. A male chasing another male will suddenly move under the male in front. This swapping of positions will often occur repeatedly.
Males change colors as they age, from green to pruinose blue over the entire thorax and first 7 abdominal segments of the abdomen. This change occurs over a period of 2-3 weeks, in a predictable progression of 17 different color patterns. The rate of color change decreases significantly with decreasing food consumption and air temperature.
Distribution: Throughout all of central and eastern U.S. and Canada, east of the Rockies.
Acknowledgement:
Adapted from https://www.odonatacentral.org/index.php/FieldGuideAction.get/id/46982
Reviewed by John C. Abbott
Edited by David A. Bell (9/29/2015).
