# 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.

- **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.

## About

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.

## Sources

- Plate: https://gaia-dex.com/species/393aaed2-e310-4bf4-873f-cab373644d9b
- iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/61495
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erythemis simplicicollis
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List category, as recorded by Gaia-Dex
- Photo: https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/401159623/medium.jpeg (Michael J. Papay, CC-BY, via iNaturalist)

Habitat, diet, size and similar notes are AI-written summaries; check them against the linked sources before relying on them.