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Pacific Forktail - Ischnura cervula
Native Species
Global Rank:
G5
State Rank:
S5
Agency Status
USFWS:
USFS:
BLM:
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General Description
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Species Range
Montana Range
Range Descriptions
Native
Observations in Montana Natural Heritage Program Database
Number of Observations: 312
(Click on the following maps and charts to see full sized version)
Map Help and Descriptions
Relative Density
Recency
(Observations spanning multiple months or years are excluded from time charts)
Habitat
The Pacific Forktail selected habitats of saline or alkaline ponds, marshes, and other wetlands, as well as a wide range of lotic habitats including slow streams with abundant emergent vegetation, specifically cattails and bulrushes (Westfall and May 1996, Nikula et al. 2002, Acorn 2004, Paulson 2009).
National Vegetation Classification System Groups Associated with this Species
Wetland and Riparian
Alkaline - Saline Wetlands
Alpine Riparian and Wetland
Peatland
Riparian and Wetland Forest
Wet Meadow and Marsh
Food Habits
Larvae feed on a wide variety of aquatic insects, such as mosquito larvae, other aquatic fly larvae, mayfly larvae, and freshwater shrimp.
Adult- This damselfly will eat almost any soft-bodied flying insect including mosquitoes, flies, small moths, mayflies, and flying ants or termites.
Reproductive Characteristics
Male Pacific Forktails are territorial and perform display activities toward other males. Copulation with females is prolonged, often lasting hours, thereby preventing other males from gaining access to female. Female oviposit early the next morning in a wide variety of floating vegetation types. Female Pacific Forktails do not submerge completely underwater during oviposition (Paulson 2009).
Stewardship Responsibility
References
- Literature Cited AboveLegend:
View Online Publication- Acorn, J. 2004. Damselflies of Alberta: flying neon toothpicks in grass. Edmonton, Alberta: University of Alberta Press. 156 pp.
Nikula, B., J. Sones, D.W. Stokes, and L.Q. Stokes. 2002. Stokes beginner's guide to dragonflies and damselflies. Boston: Little, Brown. 159 pp.- Paulson, D.R. 2009. Dragonflies and Damselflies of the West. Princeton University Press, Princeton. 535 pp.
- Westfall, M.J., Jr. and M.L. May. 1996. Damselflies of North America. Scientific Publishers, Gainesville, Florida. 649 pp.
- Additional ReferencesLegend: View Online Publication
Do you know of a citation we're missing?- Dunkle, S.W. 2000. Dragonflies through binoculars: A field guide to dragonflies of North America. New York, NY. Oxford University Press. 266 pp.
- Sater, S. 2022. The insects of Sevenmile Creek, a pictorial guide to their diversity and ecology. Undergraduate Thesis. Helena, MT: Carroll College. 242 p.
- Web Search Engines for Articles on "Pacific Forktail"
- Additional Sources of Information Related to "Insects"
