A New Vermont Dragonfly

SALUTE THE FLAG. That dragonfly above is now a bit of Vermont natural history — the first Banded Pennant (Celethemis fasciata) ever documented in the state. The perceptive naturalist Laura Gaudette found and photographed him while kayaking on Sadawga Lake in Whitingham yesterday. Congrats to Laura!

Range of Banded Pennant (until its discovery in Vermont yesterday).

The “pennants” are among the few dragonflies whose wings are marked a bit like butterfies. And they perch according to their name – like flags at the tip of twigs or stems. They even sway and pivot in the summer breezes.

Banded Pennant’s range is the south-central US into southern New England. (That’s a range map for the species from Odonata Central before Laura’s discovery.) So her find represents a northern extention of this dragonfly in the region. Global warming? Perhaps. We’ll see if there’s a breeding population at the site.

I’ve included below my own photo of Banded Pennant from southern Connecticut, along with the two other pennant species here in Vermont – Halloween Pennant (Celithemis eponina) and the elegant Calico Pennant (Celithemis elisa).

Addendum (August 4): Some folks who think they themselves have been seeing Banded Pennant are most likely seeing females of similar species that are quite common in Vermont, Twelve-spotted Skimmer and Common Whitetail. I’ve included a photo at the bottom of this post to help clarify the matter.

Banded Pennant (Celithemis fasciata) / © Bryan Pfeiffer

Halloween Pennant (Celithemis eponina) / © Bryan Pfeiffer

Calico Pennant (Celithemis elisa) / © Bryan Pfeiffer

Bryan Pfeiffer

Bryan Pfeiffer, a VCE research associate, is a writer and field biologist whose articles and essays have appeared in Orion, Aeon Magazine, The New York Times, Field & Stream, The Progressive, Northern Woodlands and lots of other places. Bryan was lead field lepidopterist for the Vermont Butterfly Survey and is co-coordinator of the Vermont Dragonfly and Damselfly Survey. He teaches writing to graduate students in the Field Naturalist Program at the University of Vermont.