NC Odonate Website

Related Species in COENAGRIONIDAE:

Number of records for 2023 = 1

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Eastern Forktail (Ischnura verticalis) by John Petranka

Compare with: Furtive Forktail Rambur's Forktail
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Note: these identification tips apply specifically to mature males; features may differ in immature males and in females.

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Map

Click on county for list of all its records for Eastern Forktail

Flight Charts

Distribution

Throughout the mountains and the northern half of the Piedmont, including most of the foothills counties. Ranges southeast to Halifax, Nash, and Wake counties. The only record for the southeastern Piedmont is for Stanly County. Interestingly, it is reported in many Coastal Plain counties in SC, though Paulson (2011) states "occurrence in coastal South Carolina is in question", as there are no Coastal Plain records for NC or for GA.

Abundance

Common to very common over most or all of the mountains. Uncommon to fairly common in the extreme upper Piedmont (foothills), but rare to locally uncommon eastward in the Piedmont portion of the range, with disturbingly few recent records, all seemingly just sight reports and thus open to question. (There are no uploaded photos to this website eastward of Wilkes and Burke counties.) Whether it is truly absent in the southeastern Piedmont is uncertain.

Flight

In the mountains, it occurs from mid-March to early November. The Piedmont flight is from early April to late September, but it likely occurs in late March and well into October or early November (as it does so in the cooler mountains).

Habitat

Lakes, ponds, and slower streams, where there is vegetation along the margins.

Behavior

Males behave like most other forktails, moving slowly low along the margins of ponds and lakes. As with those -- Citrine, Fragile, and Rambur's -- they might be difficult to spot if they were not common to abundant at these water bodies!

Comments

This is one of the relatively few damselflies that is clearly more common in the mountains than downstate. In fact, we lack records for just two of the 17 counties wholly within the mountain province. The scarcity of recent records from the Piedmont suggests a decline there, but it is too early to be truly concerned, as there are five recent records from Wake County (though all at a single site), at the eastern edge of the range. There seem to be few people looking for damselflies, especially around lake and pond margins, in most of the Piedmont; most biologists in this province look for odonates along rivers and creeks.

State Rank

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Species account update: LeGrand on 2023-01-18 17:37:58

The Dragonflies and Damselflies of North Carolina
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Photo Gallery for Eastern Forktail 26 photos are shown.		Other NC Galleries: Jeff Pippen Will Cook Ted Wilcox
	Photo 1 by: Harry LeGrand Comment: Alleghany, 2022-06-14, various sites in Alleghany County - Little Glade Millpond (Blue Ridge Parkway)		Photo 2 by: P Dixon Comment: Madison, 2022-03-31,
	Photo 3 by: p dixon Comment: Madison, 2021-04-09, Hot Springs area		Photo 4 by: p dixon Comment: Madison, 2020-09-28, Hot Springs area
	Photo 5 by: p dixon Comment: Madison, 2020-08-12, Pond at Wolf Laurel exit, I-26		Photo 6 by: p dixon Comment: Madison, 2020-08-01, Pond at Wolf Laurel exit on I-26
	Photo 7 by: Mark Shields, Hunter Phillips Comment: Mitchell, 2019-05-16, Living Waters Campground, Glen Ayre. - abundant at ponds. Many ovipositing females.		Photo 8 by: Mike Turner Comment: Avery, 2018-07-29, Mill pond on the Elk River; Banner Elk
	Photo 9 by: Mark Shields Comment: Jackson, 2018-06-25, Pond beside Breedlove Road, 5 km northeast of Cashiers		Photo 10 by: Mike Turner Comment: Wilkes; P, 2018-05-27, Lowe's River Edge Park-retention pond
	Photo 11 by: Curtis Smalling Comment: Watauga, 2017-04-28, Meat Camp Creek ESA - common for the first time this year		Photo 12 by: John Petranka, Sally Gewalt Comment: Alleghany, 2015-07-13, Little Glade Millpond, along Blue Ridge Parkway about 0.5 mi. south of US 21 at Mile Marker 230 - Males.
	Photo 13 by: Curtis Smalling; Harry LeGrand Comment: Watauga, 2012-06-19, at private pond		Photo 14 by: Curtis Smalling; Harry LeGrand Comment: Watauga, 2012-06-19, at private pond
	Photo 15 by: Doug Johnston, Vin Stanton, Gail Lankford, Janie Owen Comment: Madison, 2012-04-28, Max Patch, Pisgah National Forest - Male & Female		Photo 16 by: Doug Johnston Comment: Buncombe, 2012-03-30, Beaver Lake Bird Sanctuary
	Photo 17 by: Vin Stanton, Doug Johnston Comment: Transylvania, 2011-08-19, Brevard - Male & Female		Photo 18 by: Chelsea Rath Comment: Burke; M, 2011-07-28, Blue Ridge Parkway
	Photo 19 by: Vin Stanton, Doug Johnston Comment: Haywood, 2011-06-08, imaged at Lake Junaluska and seen at Haywood Community College - Male & Female		Photo 20 by: Vin Stanton Comment: Buncombe, 2011-05-19, drainage pond at Beaver Lake Bird Sanctuary - many individual Males & Females
	Photo 21 by: Mark Swanson Comment: Avery, 2010-08-31 - Mating pair photographed near Land Harbors Lake.		Photo 22 by: Curtis Smalling Comment: Watauga, 2010-05-28, Meat Camp Creek Environmental Studies Area
	Photo 23 by: Vin Stanton Comment: Henderson, 2010-05-15, Imaged at Fletcher Park at pond		Photo 24 by: Ted Wilcox Comment: Ashe, 2006-08-05, female
	Photo 25 by: Ted WIlcox Comment: Ashe, 2005-05-26, immature female		Photo 26 by: Ted Wilcox Comment: Ashe, 2004-06-30, male