Fragile Forktail Damselfly – Ischnura posita

Family Coenagrionidae — narrow-winged damselflies
Live adult damselfly photographed at DuPage County, Illinois, USA

The insect family Coenagrionidae is found in the order Odonata and the suborder Zygoptera. Damselflies in this family are commonly called “narrow-winged.” They are distributed worldwide. About 40 genera of the family Coenagrionidae are currently accepted.

Damselflies complete a life cycle in one or two years. The adults mate over the shallow water, sometimes in flight but often while clinging to the exposed portions of weed beds or shoreline vegetation. Immediately after mating, the female will crawl down the vegetation, and ‘into’ the water to lay her eggs on the submerged portion of the vegetation. Once the eggs are laid she will crawl back up the vegetation and repeat the process. When the eggs hatch they do not go through the larva and pupa transformations. The newly hatched damsel is just a smaller version of the later immature stages. Thus they are simply called ‘nymphs’ until they actually hatch into adults.

Order Odonata: dragonflies and damselflies date back 300 million years, to the Carboniferous Period of the Paleozoic Era. These colorful, enchanting insects are revered second only to the butterflies in the popular psyche. Explore detailed close-up photographs of live, adult dragonflies and damselflies photographed in the wild.