Tramea carolina (Linnaeus, 1763)
Carolina Saddlebags
Violet·masked Glider
Florida native
Found around clear waters of ponds, lakes, swamps and slow streams throughout Florida, including the Keys. The range includes much of the easter United States, west into Texas to Kansas, Iowa and Minnesota. Also occurring in Ontario and Nova Scotia.
These dragonflies are distinguished by a dark brown band covering the basal fourth of the hindwings. The thorax is brown and the last two abdominal segments (8 & 9) are black. Juveniles and females have a brownish-red face and abdomen. In males the face is more reddish and the abdomen becomes bright red. The violet-mask name refers to the metallic violet forehead in males, with females having violet across the lower portion of the forehead.
Tramea carolina is a member of the Libellulidae - Skimmers family.
Other species of the Tramea genus in the Wild Florida Photo database:
Tramea onusta - RED SADDLEBAGS
iNaturalist profile for this species
For more information on this species, visit the following link:
Bugguide.net page for this species
Date record last modified: Jul 08, 2024
