Fragile Forktail

I believe this is my 1st sighting (and picture) of a Fragile Forktail. This is one of our smaller damselflies, probably small enough that I missed spotting them; certainly they're documented as "common" throughout NJ. (My recollection is that the guy below darted off soon after my picture was taken.)

You should be able to see one of their main field marks: they have "exclamation marks" on the top of their thorax. If you look at the thorax, you can see a pair of elongated green spots, and at the back of the thorax you should see a pair of green dots. These are considered to resemble a pair of exclamation marks.

It sounds like they have generally like the habitat around lily pads, and I saw this fella at a dried-out lily pad pond (see the 1st picture here). Perhaps I should scout out lily pads more for damselflies?

August 3, 2022 at Lord Stirling Park
Photo 222580785, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


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