Carolina saddlebags

Carolina saddlebags (Tramea carolina)
Photo © Joyce Gibbons

FEATURES
Carolina saddlebags are purple faced. Males have red-brown eyes and a red face with some dark purple at the top. The thorax is dull red brown with occasional scattered black markings. The abdomen is bright red, with the eighth and ninth segments mostly black. The veins on the wings are red. Females have red over brown eyes and a tan face with metallic purple. The female thorax and abdomen are duller than the male, with reduced black markings.

BEHAVIOR
Males glide three to five feet above the shoreline, circling out over open water and back to the shore. They perch on dead twigs near the water, at or above flight height. Both males and females feed at all times of the day in open areas, ranging from lower open areas to treetops. Mating lasts around 10 minutes in woody or herbaceous vegetation followed by egg laying in emergent vegetation. Carolina saddlebags might be migratory, with individuals appearing in northern areas during spring. They like marshy and open ponds, or lakes with submerged vegetation. They might breed in fish-populated wetlands.  They are found in the southern half and northeastern sections of Illinois.  The populations range from the northeast border of Illinois swooping down to midway along the Missouri and Illinois border, and down to the bottom of the state. The populations range from the southern shores of Lake Michigan, east towards the Atlantic Coast and south to the Gulf Coast and into southern Florida.

​Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Odonata
Family: Libellulidae