This common dragonfly is dark brown with distinctive dark bands across the basal portion of both fore and hind wings. A yellow stripe along the abdomen darkens with age to dark brown in females and jet black in males.

Look for Widow Skimmers at ponds, where they fly over the water and occassionally rest on emergent vegetation. In the evening, adults often hang below twigs on shrubs growing at the edge of the pond.

Widow skimmers are strong flyers. They eat insects and defend favorite feeding territories when populations are high.