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Sticker of Rambur's forktail
Bug card No. 3484 of 4,939

Rambur's forktail

Ischnura ramburii
Eats: Other bugs and small animalsDragonflies and damselfliesPonds, rivers and shores6 legs

Rambur's forktail is a slim damselfly that lives by ponds and lakes. The male is green with a bright blue spot near the tip of his tail. The female can be orange-red, olive green or look like the male.

Lives in
The Americas from the United States to Chile, Hawaii and the Caribbean islands
Top speed
about 10 km/h (6.2 mph)
Flying, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It is not harmful to people and even helps by eating mosquitoes.
What does it eat?
It catches mosquitoes and other small insects. Its babies live under water and hunt there.
For real!Photo of Rambur's forktail
Picture by JeffreyGammon. CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

It is the most widespread of its kind in the Americas.

2

Its babies, called nymphs, can live in slightly salty water, which most damselfly nymphs cannot.

3

It was named after the insect scientist Jules Pierre Rambur.

4

It likes sunny ponds, marshes and slow streams with lots of plants.

you asked

Most asked questions about Rambur's forktail

?Is Rambur's forktail dangerous?

No. It is harmless and eats mosquitoes.

?Where does Rambur's forktail live?

Near ponds, lakes and marshes from the United States all the way to Chile.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Ischnura ramburii
Named by
Selys
Group
Dragonflies and damselflies
Family
Coenagrionidae
Classification
Insecta > Odonata > Coenagrionidae
Lives on
North America, South America, Australia and Oceania

Where the facts come from

  1. Rambur's forktail (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by JeffreyGammon. CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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