I commonly found Male and female Halloween Pennant dragonflies perching in tall grass and could easily spot them due to their distinctive coloring.
page 5 of 10

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Female Halloween Pennant. The light colored parts at the tips of the wings are the pterostigma. They are heavier than the rest of the wing and help with flight.
[Top view of the dragonfly perched atop some grass. The bodies are yellow and black stripes which run the length of the body. The wings are striped gold and brown. The eyes are brown and the rest of the face is green.]

Another female Halloween Pennant.
She must have been moving her wings when I clicked the shutter because I'm sure she only had four wings.
[Side view of the dragonfly holding the top of seeded grass so it is bent toward her mouth. Her body is nearly perpendicular to the ground. Her wings are fully behind her so the yellow and black stripes on her body are clearly visible. The bottom of her legs are black while the section closest to her body is yellow. It appear she has a couple extra wings because of her movement.]

Another fluttering female.
[Another side view of a dragonfly holding the top of seeded grass but this time the body is parallel to the ground and the wings just above her body.]

I liked how the sunlight reflected off her wings.
[Another side view of a dragonfly holding the top of seeded grass but this time it's the other side of the body and the tops of the wings seem to be lit from within.]

An interesting shape to her wings.
[Front view of a female atop a grass seed. Her wings are shaped in a view on either side of her body.]

She almost looks like a pinwheel here.
[Front view of a female atop a grass seed. Her lower wings are parallel to the ground and the other two wings are evenly spaced above her.]

The feathered edges of her wings indicate this girl has lived for a while and completely full wings aren't necessary for survival.
[Side view of a female atop a grass seed. There are some chunks of wing missing in several places and the entire edges of her wings look worn.]

A male Halloween pennant dragonfly. His colors are darker with more of a reddish tinge than the female.
[Right side view of a male atop a small flower bud. Rather than yellow and brown, his wings are more reddish-orange and brown. His body is also more orange than yellow.]

A different male Halloween pennant dragonfly.
[Left side view of a male atop a leaf of grass. Rather than yellow and brown, his wings are more reddish-pink and brown. His body has a kink about two-thirds from the head such that the tail-end is bent upwards.]

Front view of a male Halloween pennant dragonfly. Light-colored sections of his wings are definitely redder than those sections on a female.
[Front view of a male atop a thin stalk. All four wings are upward between 11 o'clock and 2 o'clock. Several of the psterostigma are such a bright red-orange that they almost appear to be lights. His brown eyes cover most of his head.]

Continue to page 6 of 10 to see male and female Eastern Pondhawk dragonflies.

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All photos © S. M. Garver