Identification

Field Marks

• Average adult size is approximately 3.1 inches
• Bluish-green to green eyes that meet at a single point.
• Face yellow to beige with dark crosslines
• Thorax dark brown to black with two straight yellow stripes.
• Abdomen black with yellow arrow shaped top spots on segments 2-7
• Roundish yellow top spot on segment 8
• Male sometimes has a square shaped top spot on segment 9
• No spot on segment 10

Identification

Field Marks

• Female has a thicker abdomen than the male
• No top spot on abdominal segments 9 or 10
• Abdominal segment 10 rises at an approximately 45 degree angle from the abdomen
• Spike shaped ovipositor extends approximately the same length as segment 10 from the back of the abdomen

Behavior

Males often patrol low over streams. Females typically leave the breeding habitat until they are mature. Hunting takes place while patrolling streams or in fields adjacent to streams. Not overly wary but when flushed will often retreat to the tree tops.

Habitat

Small fast-moving spring-fed forest streams and seeps with soft muddy/silty bottoms

Reproduction

Females oviposit alone by hovering low over the water and then stabbing there ovipositor into the substrate at the bottom of a stream. They do this repeatedly in quick succession then may move to a new location and repeat the process.