General: Mexican Forktails (Ischnura demorsa) are small damselflies. Males are green overall with bronze atop the abdomen and blue on the end of the tail (abdominal segments 8 and 9 are blue). Females are greenish with blue pruinosity (blue dust).
These active creatures are harmless to humans, but they are voracious predators of small flying insects such as flies and mosquitoes. There are some good places for Watching Damselflies Around Las Vegas.
Taxonomy: Order Odonata, Suborder Zygoptera, Family Coenagrionidae.
Where to Find: Mexican Forktails occur from the edge of Nevada east to Kansas and south into Mexico. Around Las Vegas, this species is uncommon around creeks and slow-moving bodies of water such the Muddy River and spring outflows. |