Celithemis eponina
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
The Halloween pennant (Celithemis eponina) is a species of dragonfly in the family Libellulidae. It is native to eastern North America, as well as the West Indies. The Halloween pennant's wings are entirely orange-yellow in color with dark brown bands, the Halloween inspiration for its common name. Dragonflies of its genus perch at the tips of plants, waving in the breeze like pennants. The young has yellow markings, including a stripe on its back. The adult male and female may develop pale red markings, especially on the face. This species is about 38 to 42 millimetres (1.5 to 1.7 in) long.
This species occurs in eastern North America. In the southern part of its range of The Bahamas and Cuba, it is in season all year round. In northern latitudes it can be seen from mid-June to mid-August. It ranges as far north as southern Canada and as far west as the United States east of the Rocky Mountains, in New Mexico and Colorado. It lives in wet habitat types such as ponds, marshes and lakes, where it perches sometimes on vegetation.
The female lays eggs in the morning on open water with the male still attached at the head. This... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Everglades National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Big Cypress National Preserve | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Point Pelee National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 5 | Shenandoah National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Miami | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Orlando | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Austin | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Houston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Washington | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Dallas | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Minneapolis [Saint Paul] | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Denver | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Chicago | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Boston | 🇺🇸 United States |
Likely
About 50% of wildlife watchers report a Halloween Pennant sighting in Big Cypress National Preserve on a given day, based on 204 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 2nd most-seen of the 262 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April
In that month about 70% of wildlife watchers report a Halloween Pennant in Big Cypress National Preserve on a given day, against about 10% in December and January, the lowest months. That is one of Big Cypress National Preserve's driest months, with about 65 mm of rain against 260 mm in June.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Halloween Pennant sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 5 parks where we can rate Halloween Pennant sightings, Big Cypress National Preserve ranks 2nd at about 50%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Everglades National Park (United States, about 50%).
Same family: Libellulidae
The closest relatives of the Halloween Pennant that you can see in Big Cypress National Preserve (family Libellulidae, Skimmers) are Band-Winged Dragonlet (about 40%), Blue Dasher (about 40%) and Needham's Skimmer (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Halloween Pennant is recorded against all the insects logged in Big Cypress National Preserve (204 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
