Celithemis eponina
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
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 |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Halloween Pennant sighting in Orlando on a given day, based on 70 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 25th most-seen of the 294 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Halloween Pennant in Orlando on a given day, against under 5% in November to February, the lowest months. That is one of Orlando's driest months, with about 60 mm of rain against 210 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.
2nd of 15
Of the 15 cities where we can rate Halloween Pennant sightings, Orlando ranks 2nd at about 10%. The best odds are in Miami (United States, about 20%).
Same family: Libellulidae
The closest relatives of the Halloween Pennant that you can see in Orlando (family Libellulidae, Skimmers) are Blue Dasher (about 10%), Eastern Pondhawk (about 10%) and Eastern Amberwing (about 10%), 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 Orlando (70 verified sightings), 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.
