This is a small damselfly approximately 1 inch in length. The male has black eyes, face and thorax, and a mostly dark red abdomen with black spots on the sides of the last 4 abdominal segments. His wings are clear with black stigmas. The female has straw-colored eyes, face and thorax and is reddish dorsally on the abdomen and pale ventrally. She has clear wings with brown stigmas.
This damselfly is fairly rare in this area. A mating pair was photographed on June 11, 2004 in the wet area along the boardwalk at Handsome Hollow in Fontenelle Forest. The second known occurrence was on May 26, 2010 when 5 males were seen along North Stream Trail in Fontenelle Forest. The third occurrence was in late May & early June 2013 along the Handsome Hollow boardwalk.
There are two North American species, one in the east and one in the west. Since it is possible that the two species could occur in Nebraska because of our geographical location in the center of the country, we cannot name which species occurs in Fontenelle Forest. The two species are identical looking and cannot be separated by photographs. They are typical of all pond damsels, in that they perch with their wings held together over the abdomen. It is found around spring-fed seeps and slow-flowing streams.
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