Sluggin' Along: Yellow Damselfly: Citrine Forktail

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Yellow Damselfly: Citrine Forktail

The order Odonata comprises both Dragonflies and Damselflies, the latter falling into the suborder Zygoptera. This afternoon I spotted a Damselfly on Rosemary: it held its 4 wings together above its body whenever it perched. It had a black head and thorax (with two greenish longitudinal lines), as well as a long, slender yellow abdomen with black markings spaced at intervals. The tip of the abdomen was entirely yellow and had 4 terminal appendages. You can tell the Damselfly is a male because of the genital "bump" under the 2nd abdominal segment. The widely spaced, purplish eyes give him a "hammerhead" appearance. Also, from the side, you can see that the forewing stigma is not along the leading edge of the wing, but entirely surrounded by clear cells of the wing. This is a feature unique to the species Ischnura hastata (family Coenagrionidae, Narrow-winged Damselflies, also called Pond Damsels), the smallest Damselfly in the US. Males differ in color from females.

All in all, you can tell why these insects are called Damselflies instead of Dragonflies: they're weak fliers and have quite fragile bodies. They don't stray far from water (and we have plenty in our yard after all this rain).