The citrine forktail (''Ischnura hastata'') is a
damselfly of the family
Coenagrionidae.
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
''Ischnura'' is a genus of damselfly, damselflies known as forktails (or sometimes bluetails) in the family Coenagrionidae.
Forktails are distributed worldwide, including various oceanic islands. The males have a forked projection at the tip of t ...
''.
Adult males have a black head and thorax, with blue markings, and a largely yellow abdomen, with black markings on its upper surface. The term
citrine refers to its yellowish colouration. 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
The pterostigma (plural: pterostigmata) is a group of specialized cells in the outer insect wing, wings of insects, which are often thickened or coloured, and thus stand out from other cells. It is particularly noticeable in dragonfly, dragonfli ...
situated away from the leading edge of the wing.
Distribution
It is native to
North and
South America, and there is a population on the
Azores. The Azorean population is likely to have been present since the late 19th Century, it was not identified as this species until 1990.
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 known to reproduce by this means.
In the southern United States, adults are on the wing year-round, while farther north the flight season is from April to November, and in the Azores from May to August.
References
External links
Info and Photos at BugGuide
Further reading
* Dijkstra, Klaas-Douwe B. and Richard Lewington. (2006.) ''Field Guide to the Dragonflies of Britain and Europe''
British Wildlife Publishing
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1634577
Ischnura
Odonata of North America
Insects of South America
Arthropods of the Azores
Insects described in 1839