The Western Meadowhawk (''Sympetrum occidentale'') 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 ...

, native to western

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. In adult form, the Meadowhawk has a length of 1 1/4 to 1 5/8 inches (31 to 40 mm). The key distinguishing feature is a cloudy, orange-brown band that covers the inner half of each wing. The band may appear darker towards the outside. Males have a yellowish thorax, marked with wavy black lines on each side, and a red to reddish brown abdomen, marked with black along the bottom edge of each side. Females are olive to golden brown and marked similarly.

References

* Libellulidae Insects described in 1915 {{dragonfly-stub