{"id":16898,"date":"2026-02-11T08:51:03","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T14:51:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/?p=16898"},"modified":"2026-02-11T08:56:57","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T14:56:57","slug":"eastern-amberwing-redux","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/eastern-amberwing-redux\/","title":{"rendered":"Eastern Amberwing Redux"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Salutations, BugFans,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2026<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 When the BugLady wrote this episode in February of 2013, she kicked it off by griping about the weather \u2013 a favorite, February, indoor sport.\u00a0This year, we\u2019ve had many days of below average, below freezing, and below zero temperatures.\u00a0How cold is it?\u00a0Three weeks ago, one of her water pipes froze and burst, and when she tossed the sodden beach towels out the door into the yard, they froze instantly.\u00a0They\u2019re still stuck solidly to the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This rerun contains a few new words (because who can look at a 13-year-old manuscript and not tweak it?), but all new pictures, because the Eastern Amberwing is a wondrous creature to photograph, even when it\u2019s hovering just out of range.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2013<\/strong>\u00a0– The weatherman keeps saying \u201cMixed precipitation\u201d and it\u2019s making the BugLady plenty crabby, so she\u2019s going to think about dragonflies, instead. Here\u2019s a little bit of sunshine on the wing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several BugFans have asked the BugLady how she selects the stars of BOTW.\u00a0First, she needs a decent picture to spin the tale around, and Eastern Amberwings have posed prettily (some of them). This tiny dragonfly has some interesting stories to tell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Close-up<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At a hair under an inch in length, the Eastern Amberwing (Perithemis<\/em>\u00a0tenera<\/em>) is the second smallest dragonfly in Wisconsin (the very-uncommon Elfin Skimmer is a bit smaller and is not yellow).\u00a0Some damselflies, like this Spreadwing Species Lestes unguiculatus – Lyre-tipped Spreadwing – BugGuide.Net<\/a>, are longer than Amberwings, but damselflies are slim and dragonflies are bulky.\u00a0Their flashy wings make them look bigger than an inch to the BugLady.\u00a0The male EA\u2019s wings are pure gold; the female\u2019s wings are brown-spotted on a sometimes-amber background (she resembles a tiny Halloween Pennant, of previous BOTW fame).\u00a0Males and females have yellowish legs and have rings around the segments of their abdomens.\u00a0The abdomens of both are thick (the female\u2019s looks especially swollen).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because of their coloring, their rapid, erratic flight, and the way they twitch their wings and abdomens when at rest, EAs are considered wasp mimics.\u00a0Their wasp \u201cdisguise\u201d may save them from aerial and terrestrial predators, but the BugLady found a website instructing fly fishermen on how to tie an EA fly, so apparently fish are willing to take a chance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where do you find them?\u00a0Over most of the US, east of the Great Plains and south into Mexico.\u00a0Here in God\u2019s Country, they fly in mid-summer, but they grace the landscape year-round in the southernmost parts of their range.\u00a0Look for them near quiet or\u00a0very<\/em>\u00a0slowly-moving waters (the BugLady often sees them in the bays and inlets along the shore of the Milwaukee River).\u00a0Look for them, too, far from water, hunting at grass-top-height over weedy fields or perched on vegetation at a woodland\u2019s edge.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where do you find them, entomologically speaking?\u00a0In the order Odonata (the dragonflies and damselflies) and in the family Libellulidae (the Skimmers).\u00a0Perithemis<\/em>\u00a0apparently is a reference to Themis, a figure in Greek mythology, and a number of other Skimmer genera incorporate Themis\u2019s name.\u00a0According to Berger and Hanson in\u00a0Dragonflies,\u00a0tenera<\/em>\u00a0is Latin for \u201ctender,\u201d \u201cdelicate,\u201d or \u201csoft\u201d and implies youth (a dragonfly is called a\u00a0teneral<\/em>\u00a0during the first few days of adult life).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They are \u201cperchers,\u201d and unlike most dragonflies, may be seen sitting on flowers (they are\u00a0not<\/em>\u00a0considered pollinators, despite the picture caption in one photo site).\u00a0On hot, summer days, they may lower their wings to shade their thorax and point their abdomens skyward to reduce direct contact by the sun\u2019s rays. Eastern Amberwings find food by patrolling or by perching and watching; they catch insects in flight, but they generally perch to eat them.\u00a0Females often raise their abdomens while in flight.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Male<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The aquatic young (naiads) eat tiny fellow-aquatic invertebrates, and unlike the more specialized naiads of other dragonflies, they use all parts of their habitat, hunting at any depth in their pond\u2019s water column.\u00a0For their carnivorous ways, Eastern Amberwings and other dragonflies are given a thumbs-up by a Florida pest control service, which says, \u201cFrom the tiny\u00a0<\/em>Eastern Amberwing, to the flamboyant\u00a0<\/em>Halloween Pennant, dragonflies are some of the most important and charismatic beneficial bugs. They\u2019re indiscriminate predators of many pest insects, including mosquitoes, flies, ants and wasps\u2026\u2026 Next time you see one zip across your yard, consider saying thanks to the dragonfly for helping to control the pest population.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eastern Amberwings sure know how to court a gal.\u00a0A male flies low over the water, patrolling a territory of choice egg-laying turf (weedy aquatic sites) about 20 feet wide and defending it vigorously – darting out at intruders and displaying with those spectacular wings.\u00a0When a female approaches, he follows and courts her, swaying back and forth, abdomen raised. If she\u2019s agreeable, she follows him home.\u00a0He hovers over his territory while she evaluates it, and if she likes it, she gets him along with it.\u00a0After mating, she lays eggs – usually alone, but sometimes under his watchful eye. The blob that she releases from the tip of her abdomen explodes as it enters the water, releasing as many as 150 eggs over the water\u2019s surface.\u00a0In his zeal to protect his \u201cinvestment,\u201d the male sometimes grabs an intruding male and flies in tandem with him, keeping him away from the female.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not surprising that a critter that\u2019s as flashy, as unmistakable, as widely distributed, and that has so many interesting behaviors has attracted the scientific community.\u00a0A number of different studies have demonstrated, at least, that Eastern Amberwings have attitude. Here are some of the things that have been discovered about them:<\/p>\n\n\n\n