Forktails (Ischnura)

As with the Bluets and Dancers, Forktails fly year round in their southern most ranges.

The five species presented here, represent the group.

Apart from their colorful bodies, Citrine Forktails (Ischnura hastata) receive the most attention for being the smallest damselflies in the United States.

They are fairly well established throughout the Eastern United States. Their range also extends West to California, in pond areas along the southern border of the United States.

Females, like that pictured above, are predominantly orange. Males have a green thorax with orange on the abdomen.

The Fragile Forktail (Ischnura posita), a very common Eastern pond damselfly, flies from spring to fall.

The broken line on the top of the thorax, or exclamation point as it is often called, serves as the principle field identification clue.

Males have green to yellow coloration on the thorax, females have blue coloration. The top picture shows a male.

The Pacific Forktail (Ischnura cervula), a very common Western species, is also one of the easiest to identify.

Males like the one in the top picture have four light dots at the corners of the thorax. The picture also highlights the green eyes.

Immature female forktails, like the female Rambur's Forktail shown in the fourth picture, often have orange to red coloration.

Rambur's forktail is a common species found along the southern half of North America.

The thick thoracic stripe on the damselfly in the final picture indicates a Western Forktail (Ischnura perparva).

The green on the body indicates a teneral male, and the color of the two appendages at the bottom of the abdomen will soon turn to the basic forktail blue. Teneral females possess an orange color.

Western Forktails live around ponds, lakes and wetlands of all elevations. They closely resemble their Eastern counterparts Ischnura verticalis.

© 2009-2011 Patricia A. Michaels