Wandering Glider

Description:

This dragonfly is distinctive with its predominantly yellow color. It has a pale yellow face that becomes reddish in older males. The thorax is olivaceous brown and largely unmarked. The wings clear with brown apices in the males. The legs are pale basally, becoming black for most of their length. The stout tapered abdomen is yellow with black stripes laterally on the swollen basal segments. There is a thin dark middorsal stripe that widens and becomes noticeably darker on segments 8-10. The pale caudal appendages are more or less bicolored in males, darkening in outer the half. Total length: 44-51 mm; abdomen: 25-34 mm; hindwing: 35-42 mm.

Habitat:

Permanent and temporary ponds, pools and other water bodies, including brackish ones. This one was spotted at the stork ponds at the Silver Bluff Audubon Center near Jackson (Aiken County), SC.

Notes:

The common name of this species may be the most appropriate of any of species. It is a strong flier, with a circumtropical distribution.