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Photo#211168
Mating Saffron-Winged Meadowhawks? - Sympetrum - male - female

Mating Saffron-Winged Meadowhawks? - Sympetrum - Male Female
Gooseberry Falls State Park, north of Two Harbors, MN, St. Louis County, Minnesota, USA
August 1, 2008
Size: ~1.5"
I saw this pair mating while flying through the air. They finally landed on a branch long enough to get this shot. I'm fairly confident about the ID, but would appreciate correction if I'm offbase.

Not Saffron-winged or Band-winged
The stigma are bi-coloured and the abdominal triangles are much too large for S. costiferum (Saffron-w'd) and the lack of any black markings on the thorax of both male and female eliminate S. semicinctum (Band-w'd). I wonder if they might be S. rubicundulum (Ruby Meadowhawk) or Cherry-faced (S.internum)? Without a look at the male hamule or female subgenital plate, I'm afraid we may never know for certain.

Can't see the wing color on the male
but the amber on the female wing leads us to suspect S. semicinctum. Loks like too much amber for costiferum.