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Brachymesia gravida Calvert, 1890
Four-spotted Pennant
Florida native
A common dragonfly seen throughout Florida in fresh or brackish quiet ponds, lakes and ditches. The range extends mainly through the Atlantic & Gulf coastal states from New Jersey into Texas, plus Arizona. Also found in north-central and northeast Mexico.
This is the only dragonfly found in Florida that has white stigmas on the wings. Mature males have a large black spot on the outer half of each wing, black, brown or reddish body and all black face. Juveniles have a white spot on each side of the face, brown thorax and abdomen with a black stripe down the top of the far half of the abdomen. Females darken more slowly than the males, but retain the white facial spots of the juvenile.
Dragonflies often raise their abdomen on hot days to keep from getting too hot. In this obelisk posture the tip is oriented towards the sun so that less surface area is exposed to sunlight.
Brachymesia gravida is a member of the Libellulidae - Skimmers family.
iNaturalist profile for this species
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Bugguide.net page for this species
Date record last modified: Dec 05, 2023
