band-winged meadowhawk

(Sympetrum semicinctum)

Conservation Status
band-winged meadowhawk
Photo by Kari Miller
  IUCN Red List

not listed

     
  NatureServe

N5 - Secure

SNR - Unranked

     
  Minnesota

not listed

     
           
           
           
 
Description
 
 

Band-winged meadowhawk is a small dragonfly.

The face is yellow to brown.

The thorax is brown and is covered with brown hairs.

On juveniles the abdomen is dark brown with a black lateral stripe on each side. On mature males it is red. Females appear in two forms. On red form females the abdomen is red. On yellow form females it is whitish-yellow. All mature individuals have a black triangular marking on each side of each abdominal segment which, taken together, form a jagged, black line.

The inner third of the forewing is amber. The inner half of the hindwing, from the point of attachment to the wing notch (nodus) is amber. All of the wing veins are black. In males and most females, the outer portion of the amber area on the hindwing is darkened, forming a band. The outer portion of both wings is clear except for the dark stigma on the leading edge of each wing.

The legs are black.

On the eastern form band-winged meadowhawk (S. s. semicinctum) each wing is amber from the base to the node. On the hindwings, it darkens in the outer region becoming a dark brown nodal band. The thorax is brown. On the western form band-winged meadowhawk (S. s. occidentale) all wings have diffuse amber coloring from the base to the node. The thorax is yellow to brown and there are narrow black lines on the side in the form of an irregular W. Eastern form band-winged meadowhawk lacks these markings. Both forms occur in Minnesota.

 
     
 

Size

 
 

Total length: to 13 16

 
     
 

Similar Species

 
  Saffron-winged meadowhawk (Sympetrum costiferum) veins within the amber wing patch are reddish or orange, not black.  
     
 
Habitat
 
 

Small ponds, shallow marshes.

 
     
 
Biology
 
 

Season

 
 

Late June to late September

 
     
 

Behavior

 
 

 

 
     
 

Life Cycle

 
 

Eggs are laid among plants emerging from the water at the edges of ponds and in marshes while the female is still in tandem with the male.

 
     
 

Naiad Food

 
 

 

 
     
 

Adult Food

 
 

 

 
     
 
Distribution
 
 
Distribution Map   Distribution Map   Distribution Map
band-winged meadowhawk (Sympetrum semicinctum)   eastern band-winged meadowhawk (Sympetrum semicinctum semicinctum)   western meadowhawk
(Sympetrum semicinctum occidentale)
8/5/2019   7/16/2019   6/24/2017
 
 

Sources

7, 18, 24, 29, 30.

 
         
 

Occurrence

 
 

Uncommon or locally common

 
         
 
Taxonomy
 
 

Order

Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies)  
 

Suborder

Epiprocta  
  Infraorder Anisoptera (dragonflies)  
 

Superfamily

Cavilabiata  
 

Family

Libellulidae (skimmers)  
 

Genus

Sympetrum (meadowhawks)  
       
 

Western meadowhawk was formerly considered as a separate species, Sympetrum occidentale. A recent molecular and morphological study (Dohlen, 2007) showed that the two species are identical at two genetic loci and that the morphological characters used to distinguish them overlapped. However, the geographic variation is distinct and is predictable. For that reason, the subspecies names have been preserved.

 
       
 

Subordinate Taxa

 
 

eastern band-winged meadowhawk (Sympetrum semicinctum semicinctum)

western meadowhawk (Sympetrum semicinctum californicum)

western meadowhawk (Sympetrum semicinctum fasciatum)

western meadowhawk (Sympetrum semicinctum occidentale)

 
       
 

Synonyms

 
 

Sympetrum occidentale

 
       
 

Common Names

 
 

band-winged meadowhawk

 
       

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary

Nodus

On dragonflies and damselflies: the small notch on the lead edge of each wing about halfway between the body and the tip.

 

Stigma

In plants, the portion of the female part of the flower that is receptive to pollen. In Lepidoptera, an area of specialized scent scales on the forewing of some skippers, hairstreaks, and moths. In other insects, a thickened, dark, or opaque cell on the leading edge of the wing.

 

 

 
 
Visitor Photos
 
           
 

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Norm & Peg Dibble

 
    band-winged meadowhawk      
 

Lynn Rubey

 
  Adult male Band-winged Meadowhawk on a leaf in the prairie in The Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge.   band-winged meadowhawk  
 

Kari Miller

 
    band-winged meadowhawk      
           
 
MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos
 
    band-winged meadowhawk   band-winged meadowhawk  
           
    band-winged meadowhawk      
           

 

Camera

     
 
Slideshows
 
Band-winged Meadowhawk (Sympetrum semicinctum)
Andree Reno Sanborn
  Band-winged Meadowhawk (Sympetrum semicinctum)  
Sympetrum semicinctum (Band-winged Meadowhawk)
Allen Chartier
  Sympetrum semicinctum (Band-winged Meadowhawk)  
Band-winged Meadowhawk
Victor Fazio
  Band-winged Meadowhawk  
     

 

slideshow

       
 
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Other Videos
 
  Band-winged Meadowhawk
corruptum
 
   
 
About

Uploaded on Sep 14, 2010

Band-winged Meadowhawk (Sympetrum semicinctum) at Lake Byllesby Dakota County Park near Cannon Falls, Minnesota, on September 14th, 2010.

 
  Band-winged Meadowhawk (Libellulidae: Sympetrum semicinctum)
Carl Barrentine
 
   
 
About

Uploaded on Jul 8, 2010

Photographed in the strong prairie wind at the Glacial Ridge NWR, Minnesota (07 July 2010).

 
  Band-winged Meadowhawk Sympetrum semicinctum
Meena Haribal
 
   
 
About

Uploaded on Jul 21, 2009

Band-winged Meadow Hawk Sympetrum semicinctum, female, eating an insect and dash off to catch anotehr insect and gulp it up is short time.

 
  Band-winged Meadowhawk (Libellulidae: Sympetrum semicinctum) on Ground
Carl Barrentine
 
   
 
About

Uploaded on Aug 17, 2010

Photographed at the Turtle River State Park, North Dakota (16 August 2010).

 
  Dragonfly - Western Meadowhawk
monsandy
 
   
 
About

Uploaded on Sep 6, 2010

Western Meadowhawk dragonfly (presumably) filmed at Queen Elizabeth Park in Vancouver, British Columbia - summer 2010.

 
       

 

Camcorder

 
 
Visitor Sightings
 
           
 

Report a sighting of this insect.

 
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  Norm & Peg Dibble
8/3/2019

Location: Maple Grove, MN

On 08/3/2019 there was a Dragonfly on our tall Joe Pye Weed plant. Fortunately, it stayed still long enough for me to get a few nice photos of it. I’m wondering if it is one of the Meadowhawk Dragonflies?

band-winged meadowhawk  
  Lynn Rubey
8/3/2019

Location: Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge

Adult male Band-winged Meadowhawk on a leaf in the prairie in The Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge.

band-winged meadowhawk  
  Kari Miller
7/16/2019

Location: Austin, MN - Mower County

I think my ID is correct, if not I'd love to know which species it is.

band-winged meadowhawk  
  John Valo
7/16/2019

Your ID is correct. This is the eastern form S. s. semicinctum.

 
           
 
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