Celithemis eponina
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
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 Shenandoah National Park on a given day, based on 19 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 201st most-seen of the 723 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Halloween Pennant in Shenandoah National Park on a given day, against under 5% in September to June, the lowest months.
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.
5th of 5
Of the 5 parks where we can rate Halloween Pennant sightings, Shenandoah National Park ranks 5th at about 10%. The best odds are in Everglades National Park (United States, about 50%), Big Cypress National Preserve (United States, about 50%) and Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (United States, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Halloween Pennant is recorded against all the insects logged in Shenandoah National Park (19 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.
