Banded Pennant
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Celithemis fasciata
Kirby, 1889
Order Odonata
Suborder Anisoptera
Superfamily Libelluloidea
Family Libellulidae
Genus Celithemis
Species fasciata Kirby, 1889 [Celithemis]
Syn Celithemis monomelaena Williamson, 1910
Identification
This species is easily identified by its dark color and clear wings with large black spots. Its face and body are bright yellow, but quickly become black or dark blue in males. The thorax is yellow, striped with black on the humeral, midlateral and third lateral sutures, but becoming entirely black at maturity. The wings are clear with a large basal black spot extending out to the nodus and encompassing an amber area centrally in the hindwing. There is a dark sp
ot in the outer half of each wing and the wingtips are black. The abdomen is black with pale yellowish dorsal markings on segments 5-7 that quickly become obscured in older individuals.
Size
Total length: 28-38 mm; abdomen: 17-26 mm; hindwing: 24-32 mm.
Similar Species
Halloween Pennant (C. eponina
) has orange wings. The basal markings in the hindwing of Calico Pennant (C. elisa
) are smaller and don't extend out to the level of the nodus.
Habitat
Permanent lakes, ponds and borrow pits with emergent vegetation.
Discussion
Banded Pennant prefers protected areas of ponds and lakes with thick growths of trees or bushes. They forage, as do other species in this group, from tall grasses or stems. They often perch, in a similar fashion to Halloween Pennant, with the forewings elevated above the hindwings. Females lay eggs accompanied by males or alone.
Distribution
Eastern U.S. from New York to Texas.
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