Sympetrum semicinctum is a common species across much of its large range, but it barely reaches the Deep South. It is known from one site in north-central Alabama and has not been collected to date in Mississippi. The usual habitat for this distinctive dragonfly is heavily vegetated marshes, ponds, and ditches, sometimes with minimal flow. Individuals from the western part of the U.S. tend to have somewhat more extensive banding on the wings and more black markings on the thorax than do individuals from the eastern part of the country. These forms have in the past been regarded as different species, but recent evidence indicates that they are different forms of one wide-ranging, variable species.