Eastern Pondhawk
Erythemis simplicicollis
This species exhibits dramatic color changes; juveniles and females are leaf-green, but mature males turn a dusty 'pruinose' blue to signal social status.
- Scientific name
- Erythemis simplicicollis
- Taxonomy
- Animalia › Arthropoda › Insecta › Odonata › Libellulidae › Erythemis
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- stable
- Biome
- wetland
- Habitat
- Still or slow-moving freshwater including ponds, marshes, lakes, and ditches with plenty of floating vegetation.
- Diet
- Carnivorous; aggressively hunts mosquitoes, flies, moths, and even other smaller dragonflies.
- Range
- United States, Southern Canada, Mexico, Central America, Caribbean
- Size
- 36-48 mm in length with a similar wingspan.
- Lifespan
- 4-8 weeks as an adult; up to 1 year as an aquatic nymph.
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Habitat destruction of wetlands and chemical runoff/pesticides that kill their aquatic prey.
- Safe to approach?
- Harmless. These dragonflies are beneficial predators that often follow hikers to catch stirred-up insects. They do not sting and rarely bite humans unless handled roughly; simply observe their aerial acrobatics.
Erythemis simplicicollis , the eastern pondhawk , also known as the common pondhawk , is a dragonfly of the family Libellulidae, native to the eastern two-thirds of the United States and southern Ontario and Quebec, Canada. It is a dragonfly of ponds and still waters. The species is distinguished in that the female is bright green with a banded abdomen and the mature male has a blue abdomen with a green face and green and blue thorax.
Photo: Michael J. Papay, CC-BY, via iNaturalist
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