Bug FAQPond Amberwing
Perithemis mooma · Order: Odonata · Family: Libellulidae
Also called: Eastern Amberwing
The pond amberwing is a very small dragonfly, no longer than about 25 mm. Males show orange-amber wings and both sexes have a red spot on the wing tip. It lives in the eastern part of North America, from northern Mexico up to southeastern Canada, and it mimics a wasp in appearance.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Males have orange or amber wings, likely due to pheomelanin, and both males and females have a red pterostigma.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Its native range covers eastern North America, from northern Mexico up to southeastern Canada.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
The eastern amberwing dragonfly actively mimics a wasp.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 43 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Ohio, Texas, Florida, New Jersey, Virginia, Illinois, Maryland, New York.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Same family (Libellulidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_amberwing
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-23.