autumn darter; Sympetrum frequens
A common red dragonfly species seen in Japan during autumn. The name is usually written in katakana as アキアカネ.
In autumn, many autumn darters fly over the rice fields.
Katakana spelling is the usual written form for this species name.
Hiragana spelling is also used, especially in informal or educational contexts.
Kanji spelling is literary or poetic; rarely used in everyday writing.
From 秋 (aki, 'autumn') + 茜 (akane, 'madder red'), referring to the red dragonfly that appears in autumn.