Bug FAQVariegated Meadowhawk
Sympetrum corruptum · Order: Odonata · Family: Libellulidae
Also called: Robust Pink Skimmer
Males are dark with bright red, pink and gold on the abdomen and have yellow dots on the thorax; females are duller with gray and yellow, while juveniles are pale and mottled.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Males are dark brown-black with a bright red, pink and golden-brown abdomen, yellow dots on each side of the thorax, and pinkish leading edges on the wings. Females look similar but are less bright, showing gray and yellow instead of red, and young ones are paler with mottled green, yellow, brown and orange.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Adults range from about 41 mm (15/8 in) to 49 mm (111/12 in) in length.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
They are found near ponds, lakes and swamps.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 44 of 51 states and DC. Most records: California, Texas, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Nevada.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in Canada; native in United States. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Same family (Libellulidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variegated_meadowhawk
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.