General: Black-fronted Forktail Damselflies (Ischnura denticollis) are very small damselflies. Adult males are all black above (with some green iridescence) with blue on the tip of the tail (abdominal segments 8 and 9 are blue); lower sides of thorax blue. On closer examination, there is blue on the top and bottom of the tail, but the blue is separated by black. Immature males are greenish where adult males are blue. Adult females are similar, but they have some brown above, have a black shoulder stripe, and the sides of the thorax are blue-greenish. Immature females are light pink.

These active creatures are harmless to humans, but they are voracious predators of small flying insects such as flies and mosquitoes. There are some good places for Watching Damselflies Around Las Vegas.

Taxonomy: Order Odonata, Suborder Zygoptera, Family Coenagrionidae.