A bright red male Autumn Meadowhawk dragonfly with red-brown eyes resting on pavement while mating with a dull brown female.

Wild Facts About The Autumn Meadowhawk Dragonfly

ByChristine Wild Animals

Autumn Meadowhawk Dragonfly Photo Gallery

Little Predators That Live Long

  • Autumn Meadowhawk Dragonflies are relatively small dragonflies compared to other dragonfly species found in the eastern United States.
  • Adult males have red-brown eyes, dark red-brown thoraxes, clear wings, and bright red abdomens.
  • Adult females have red over tan eyes, and brown thoraxes and abdomens.
  • But age can make identifying individuals tricky.
    • Immature males resemble females, only with more slender abdomens.
    • Aged females turn red and resemble males.
  • But like all dragonflies, Autumn Meadowhawk Dragonflies are powerful predators of flying insects.
  • Autumn Meadowhawk Dragonflies travel quite a distance from water, and individuals can be abundant in meadows, where they hunt small insects above and in the grass.
  • Thanks in part to their habit of constantly basking in the sun, Autumn Meadowhawks fly longer into the fall than many other dragonfly species.

Gathering Together For Benefit Of All

  • Male Autumn Meadowhawk Dragonflies don’t seem to be very territorial, either at water or when they are in the midst of mating with their females.
    • According to one study (McMillan 2000, https://doi.org/10.1674/0003-0031(2000)144[0011:ABDOIT]2.0.CO;2), Autumn Meadowhawk dragonfly pairs mating in wheel position or flying in tandem seem to ignore each other, even when they are quite close (within 5-10 cm).
      • Pairs even tolerated actually banging into each other as they performed dipping movements into water to lay eggs.
      • In fact, multiple pairs of mating Autumn Meadowhawks may congregate in the same area to lay their eggs, possibly because the presence of one or more pairs may signal that the area is safe.
  • Like other dragonfly species, Autumn Meadowhawks lay their eggs in water and on submerged vegetation.
  • But this species also drops their large, round eggs onto dry ground—usually along the dried edges of ponds and lakes.
    • Rainwater then submerges the eggs and allows the larvae to hatch into their required underwater environment.
  • Some Autumn Meadowhawk Dragonfly eggs overwinter and hatch in the spring.

My Nature Journal Sightings

10/13/2025 Nature Journal

This pair of Autumn Meadowhawk Dragonflies was mating around a pond in a fairly deep valley in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.

A bright red male Autumn Meadowhawk dragonfly with red-brown eyes mating with a dull brown female amidst grass.
A red male Autumn Meadowhawk Dragonfly and a brown female clasp each other in wheel position as they mate Sympetrum vicinum Photograph taken and design created by the author Copyright © 2026 Now I Wonder All rights reserved

As this species tends to do, the male and female spent several minutes in wheel position. The male occasionally lifted them both into the air and relocated a few yards but the pair stayed within sight.

I was surprised to see these dragonflies as it is well into October and fall comes even faster into the Blue Ridge Mountains than it does in the Piedmont.

A bright red male Autumn Meadowhawk dragonfly with red-brown eyes resting on pavement while mating with a dull brown female.
A red male Autumn Meadowhawk Dragonfly and a brown female clasp each other in wheel position as they mate Sympetrum vicinum Photograph taken and design created by the author Copyright © 2026 Now I Wonder All rights reserved

But Autumn Meadowhawks fly the latest into the calendar year of almost any other dragonfly species found in the eastern United States, so perhaps I shouldn’t have been so surprised.

A bright red male Autumn Meadowhawk dragonfly with red-brown eyes mating with a dull brown female amidst grass.
A red male Autumn Meadowhawk Dragonfly and a brown female clasp each other in wheel position as they mate Sympetrum vicinum Photograph taken and design created by the author Copyright © 2026 Now I Wonder All rights reserved

Regardless, it was a treat to see these brightly colored dragonflies when and where I hadn’t expected to see any such thing. And to spot them ensuring next year’s supply of beautiful Autumn Meadowhawks was even better.

Conditions

Temperature

67° F / 19° C

Weather

Scattered clouds

Humidity

49%

Time Of Day

1:50 PM

Setting

Along the edge of a pond in a mountain valley

Scientific Classification

Kingdom

Animalia (animals)

Phylum

Arthropoda (arthropods)

Class

Insecta (insects)

Order

Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies)

Family

Libellulidae (skimmer dragonflies)

Genus

Sympetrum

Species

S. vicinum

Scientific Name

Sympetrum vicinum

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Christine
Christine is the creator and author of NowIWonder.com, a website dedicated to the animals and plants that share our world, and the science that helps us understand them. Inspired by lifelong exploration and learning, Christine loves to share her knowledge with others who want to connect with wild faces and wild spaces.
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