''Sympetrum ambiguum'', the blue-faced meadowhawk, is a

dragonfly A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of true dragonfly are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threate ...

of the family

Libellulidae The skimmers or perchers and their relatives form the Libellulidae, the largest dragonfly family in the world. It is sometimes considered to contain the Corduliidae as the subfamily Corduliinae and the Macromiidae as the subfamily Macromiinae. Ev ...

Description

The aqua blue face of the blue-faced, green/turquoise when dead, meadowhawk may not be obvious to a casual observer, but is an important field mark distinguishing it from similar-looking meadowhawks in the genus '' Sympetrum'', such as ''

Sympetrum vicinum ''Sympetrum vicinum'', the yellow-legged meadowhawk or autumn meadowhawk, is a member of the Libellulidae family. It grows to 26–35 mm long. Description Naiad This species has a small naiad, with a length of . It is mottled green and b ...

''. This small dragonfly reaches a maximum total length of 38 mm. The thorax is grayish or olive brown. A mature male has a bright red abdomen, with black stripes; in females and juveniles, it remains brown. Both genders have six black rings on their abdomens. They can be found from summer through fall in Midwest North America close to water sources.

References

External links

Sympetrum ambiguum
- BugGuide.Net {{Taxonbar, from=Q145316 Libellulidae Taxa named by Jules Pierre Rambur Insects described in 1842