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Sticker of Citrine forktail
Bug card No. 0902 of 4,939

Citrine forktail

Ischnura hastata

The citrine forktail is a tiny damselfly, much smaller than most of its relatives in Europe. The male has a black head and chest with blue marks and a bright yellow tail. It flits low over the plants beside ponds and marshes.

Lives in
North and South America, and on the Azores islands
Length
2 to 2.7 cm (0.79 to 1.1 in)
Top speed
about 8.8 km/h (5.5 mph)
Flying, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It cannot sting or hurt people.
What does it eat?
Like all damselflies, it catches small flying insects to eat.
For real!Photo of Citrine forktail
Picture by Zvkemp. CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Citrine forktail about 2.7 cm long (1.1 in)A grain of rice about 6 mm (0.24 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)A crayon about 9 cm (3.5 in)
as long as 4 grains of rice in a rowcould fly across a whole football pitch in 43 secondsmoves 91 times its own body length every second

How big is Citrine forktail compared to YOU?

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How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Citrine means lemon yellow, and the name comes from the male's yellow tail.

2

Young females are mostly orange. As they grow up they turn brownish, then olive, then greyish.

3

The male is the only damselfly in the world whose little wing spot sits away from the front edge of the wing.

4

On the Azores islands the females lay eggs that hatch without any males. No other dragonfly or damselfly group in the world is known to do this.

5

In the warm south of the United States, adults can be seen flying all year round.

you asked

Most asked questions about Citrine forktail

?How big is a citrine forktail?

It is only about 2 to 2.7 centimetres long, one of the smallest damselflies.

?Where does the citrine forktail live?

It lives in North and South America, and there is also a group on the Azores islands in the Atlantic.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Ischnura hastata
Group
Dragonflies and damselflies
Family
Coenagrionidae
Classification
Insecta > Odonata > Coenagrionidae
Lives on
North America, South America, Europe

Where the facts come from

  1. Citrine 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 Zvkemp. 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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More from the same group: Dragonflies and damselflies

Also at home here: Ponds, rivers and shores

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