Citrine Forktail
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Citrine Forktail, Ischnura hastata |
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| Ischnura hastata (Say, 1839) |
The Citrine Forktail (Ischnura hastata) is a damselfly of the family Coenagrionidae.
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[edit] Physical description
This species is 20-27 mm in length, and its hindwing is 11-15 mm long; it is thus considerably smaller than most European members of the genus Ischnura.
Adult males have a black head and thorax, with blue markings, and a largely yellow abdomen, with black markings on its upper surface. Adult females are initially largely orange, marked with black above on the head and rear part of the abdomen. They undergo a colour change, through brown or olive to greyish, as they mature.
Male Citrine Forktails are the only damselflies in the world with the pterostigma situated away from the leading edge of the wing.
[edit] Distribution
It is native to North and South America, although there is also a population on The Azores. The Azorean population is likely to have been present since the late 19th Century; however, it was not identified as this species until 1990.
[edit] Life history
In North America, this species has a typical dragonfly life-history. However, the population on the Azores reproduces by parthenogenesis, making it the only population of Odonata anywhere in the world to reproduce by this means — Parthenogenesis is unknown in the species' American populations.
In the southern United States, adults are on the wing year-round, while further north the flight-season is from April to November, and in the Azores from May to August.
[edit] Gallery
 Another male |
[edit] References
- Dijkstra, Klaas-Douwe B. and Richard Lewington (2006) Field Guide to the Dragonflies of Britain and Europe British Wildlife Publishing
