WANDERING GLIDER (Pantala flavescens)
- flier (broad hindwings)
- medium size (length 2 inches, wingspread 3 inches)
- yellow to yellow-orange all over
- eyes red, face yellow to orange
- prominent dark markings down center of abdomen
- clear wings
Individuals move north from tropics during summer (farther north in East than West), breeding along the way. Migratory flights south in fall, presumably their offspring but poorly known. Most widely distributed dragonfly and highly migratory through all of its worldwide range.
SIMILAR SPECIES
- Spot-winged Glider (Pantala hymenaea) – same size and shape but slightly darker, more reddish or brownish, and with brown spots at base of hindwings (not always easily seen in flight)
- Four-spotted Skimmer (Libellula quadrimaculata) – percher rather than flier, browner and with spots in wings; confusion possible only at a distance
- Variegated Meadowhawk (Sympetrum corruptum) – percher, considerably smaller and with yellow markings on thorax and white markings on abdomen; male with much red; although distinctly different, migration flights might cause confusion
