For this week’s Halloween special edition of Flora and Fauna Friday, our subject is neither ghoulish nor haunting but aptly named. The cold moon’s light of Hallow’s Eve shines upon the Halloween Pennant (Celithemis eponina).
The Halloween Pennant is a medium-sized dragonfly in the Skimmer family, Libellulidae. Although named for the fall holiday, the Halloween Pennant is most easily observed in summer. It breeds in marshy ponds and wetlands. It typically hunts in fields and high saltmarsh where it can often be seen perched on the tip of a grass blade, watching for prey. Male Halloween Pennants aren’t territorial like other dragonfly species and won’t be seen chasing each other through the air. Conversely, they are rather protective of their perch and will brush off harassment from larger, more territorial dragonfly species in favor of keeping their seat. Halloween Pennants have abnormally long wings for their body size compared to most dragonflies. This lends them a floaty flight pattern more like a butterfly than other Skimmers and Pennants. They get their autumn-themed moniker from the color of the male’s elongated wings. His wings are a transparent burnt orange striped with thick bands of ebony brown and coral red veins that bring to mind the orange and blacks of Halloween décor. Females are just as colorful with bright yellow wings banded with black. The wings of the male are studded at the tips with hot pink stigmata. The female’s stigmata are cream white. Stigmata, or more accurately pterostigmata, are distinct cells on the leading edge of the wing near the tip. These cells are thickened areas of chitin that are opaque and colored in many species of dragonfly, making them stand out from the rest of the wing. The dense pterostigma improves the aerodynamics of a dragonfly wing by reducing vibrations and allowing dragonflies to glide at faster top speeds.
