Eastern Forktail (Immature Female)- Ischnura verticalis

I found this gorgeous, little damselfly stuck in plant - it was dead. I'm not sure why it died, but dead it certainly was. Immature females have a bright orange thorax with black dorsal and shoulder stripes; abdomen orange at base and black above. She was about 2 - 2.5 cm long.

Habitat: Rural garden

comments (7)

Ferdy Christant

Lion

"Flies from late June to early October"
Could this be the reason? Most dragonflies die in the winter where I live, they don't overwinter except for two species. Posted 6 years ago
1. Christine Young
  
  Lion
  
  I spotted it in August ;)
  
  I thought that maybe it got stuck in the plant, but they should be strong enough to get free, no? I didn't see any damage to its body, but it was hard to tell since it was so tiny. There were no other bugs feasting on it, so it wasn't a meal. Hmm. Posted 6 years ago
2. 1. Christine Young
    
    Lion
    
    Maybe it's missing some legs. I can't tell. Posted 6 years ago
  2. Ferdy Christant
    
    Lion
    
    Sorry overlooked the timestamp :)
    Not sure what happened. In my experience, dead yet whole insects mean a very recent event. Insect corpses seem to be cleaned up with brutal efficiency. As a goal to try to some insect focus stacking, I'm against capturing live insects, so I'm on the lookout for dead ones in good shape. I pretty much never find any. Posted 6 years ago
  3. 1. Christine Young
      
      Lion
      
      Good point! I almost never see dead, intact insects. Sounds like a cool project - if you can find some subjects! I have a large insect collection from graduate school. It was a requirement and was awful to have to carry out. I had to collect and kill hundreds of insects to pin and preserve. Some of my boxes got damaged by pests, but the others I kept for educational purposes - that way the bugs didn't die for nothing. Posted 6 years ago

Flown Kimmerling

Lion

Really weird! Posted 6 years ago
1. Christine Young
  
  Lion
  
  It was! Maybe the plant had something to do with it? It was on fennel (Foeniculum vulgare), which is so strong smelling. I'm reaching, I know ;P Posted 6 years ago

The Eastern Forktail

The Eastern Forktail is a member of the damselfly family Coenagrionidae. The males are yellow-green with blue on the top of the eighth and ninth abdominal segments. The females may be orange, or less commonly yellow-green like the male. Flies from late June to early October.

Info 9 0

Similar species: Dragonflies And Damselflies

Species identified by Christine Young