I found and photographed this Red Saddlebags in the "Wheatfield" on the Gettysburg Battlefield, Gettysburg, PA on August 21, 2006. This was the first recorded sighting of this species in Pennsylvania. I sent hard copies of these photos to Clark Shiffer, State College, PA and he has verified them as T. onusta, accepted them as proof of exisitance and entered this find in the PA Odonata Data Base. Documents filed and approved by The Nature Conservancy via photos. Because of the similarity of this species to the Carolina Saddlebags I contacted several experts on Odonata for their confirmation. Comments are below.
"No question that this is a Red Saddlebags. Not only do they not have violet on top of the frons, but the black markings on segments 8-9 are considerably smaller in this species - either sex and any age. Very good record,....."
.....Dennis Paulson, Professional Odonatologist, Tocoma WA
"Yes, that's definitely a T. onusta. I'm not too surprised to see it; all Tramea are pretty mobile since they're adapted for gliding and thus moving with prevailing winds...... Anyway, it's a nice record and really nice pictures."
........Mike May, Entomology Professor, Rutgers University
That is Tramea onusta (Red Saddlebags), and a stray from the west. I can almost guarantee it is a first for Adams County, PA.
