Celithemis ornata (Rambur, 1842)
Faded Pennant
NatureServe Global Rank: G5
Virginia State Rank: SH
VA DGIF Tier: IV
Federal Legal Status: None
Virginia Legal Status: None
Description: The Faded Pennant is a rather small dragonfly at 33-35mm (1.3-1.4 inches). The abdomen is black with red spots. The wings are clear except for the hind wings which which have a large basal spot of black and red with red veins throughout.
Similar species: Martha's Pennant (C. martha) similar to the Faded Pennant, but male Martha's Pennants have an entirely dark abdomen and the hind wing basal spot is all black. Martha's Pennant is a northern species barely entering northern Virginia, while Faded Pennant is a southern species.
North American Range: The Faded Pennant is found in the southeastern coastal plain from New Jersey to Florida and west to east Texas. In Virginia only recorded from Charles City County (Carle, 1982).
VA Observations by Locality: Charles City
Flight season and broods: The Virginia record is from 18 June, but the flight season in Georgia runs from late March through October (Beaton, 2007).
Aquatic Habitat: The Faded Pennant lives in and around sand-bottomed ponds with emergent vegetation and abundant shoreline vegetation.
Behavior and Ecology: Like other pennants, the Faded Pennant perch on tips of vegetation in adjoining fields, but will also perch on the ground.
Population trend and potential threats: Very rare to possibly extirpated in the northern portion of its range from New Jersey to Virginia (NatureServe, 2011). No records for Virginia since 1938.
Management practices: The Faded Pennant relies on sand-bottomed ponds with unmowed shoreline vegetation and emergent aquatic vegetation.
References: Beaton, Giff. 2007. Dragonflies and Damselflies of Georgia and the Southeast. University of Georgia Press, Athens. 355 pp.
Carle, F.L., 1982. A contribution to the knowledge of the Odonata. Ph.D. thesis, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia. 1,095 pp.
NatureServe. 2011. NatureServe Explorer: An online encyclopedia of life [web application]. Version 7.1. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia. Available http://www.natureserve.org/explorer (Accessed: March 10, 2012).
Paulson, Dennis. 2011. Dragonflies and Damselflies of the East. Princeton University Press. Princeton and Oxford. 538 pp.
Roble, Steven M. 2011. Dragonflies of Virginia- Flight dates. Unpub.