Halloween Pennant

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Identification

Orange wings crossed by dark brown bands give this dragonfly a flag-like appearance; the body is orange-brown with dark patterning.

Orange wings crossed by dark brown bands create the unmistakable pennant pattern, while the abdomen is orange-brown with dark markings. Compare Calico Pennant's different wing patches and body pattern, especially when a worn individual has faded orange.

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Documented range

Halloween Pennant ranges from Colorado, Minnesota, Ontario and Nova Scotia south to Tamaulipas and Florida, west to Arizona; it also occurs in the Bahamas and Cuba.

Arizona and Colorado are explicit western endpoints, and Texas is well within the southern range. New Mexico records may connect them, but the species remains local rather than ubiquitous in dry country.

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Habitat & flight period

Ponds, marshes and slow waters with tall emergent stems and nearby open grassland.

A warm-season dragonfly, generally seen from late spring through summer and into early fall in southern areas.

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Finding strategy

Scan the tips of grasses and rushes around still water. Pennants often balance high on a flexible stem and face into the wind.

Scan the highest flexible grass and rush stems around ponds, marshes and slow water. Because an exposed perch moves continuously, watch for the insect to face into the wind and use that predictable orientation for both identification and photography.

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Similar species

Calico Pennant has different wing patches and abdominal pattern; Painted Skimmer is larger and lacks the same banded-wing arrangement.

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Photography in the field

Use a fast shutter even for a perched insect because its exposed stem moves constantly; align the wing plane and preserve the orange highlights.

Protect the water edge, keep a working distance, and leave the insect and its perch as found.