Black Pondhawk

Erythemis attala · Order: Odonata · Family: Libellulidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Black Pondhawk
Photo: Juan Chavez, CC BY

The black pondhawk is a type of skimmer dragonfly in the Libellulidae family. It lives across the Caribbean, Central and South America, and parts of North America.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

Erythemis attala belongs to the dragonfly family Libellulidae.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 4 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Texas, Indiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma.

Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.

Source: GBIF

Months it is reported in the US

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Source: GBIF

More photos

Black Pondhawk photo 3
Photo: johnyochum, CC BY
Black Pondhawk photo 4
Photo: Melissa McMasters, CC BY
Black Pondhawk photo 5
Photo: John Rosford, CC BY
Black Pondhawk photo 6
Photo: John Rosford, CC BY

Same family (Libellulidae)

Blue DasherBlue DasherPachydiplax longipennisEastern PondhawkEastern PondhawkErythemis simplicicollisCommon WhitetailCommon WhitetailPlathemis lydiaWidow SkimmerWidow SkimmerLibellula luctuosaAutumn MeadowhawkAutumn MeadowhawkSympetrum vicinumCommon DarterCommon DarterSympetrum striolatum

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erythemis_attala

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.