Identification

Field Marks

• Average adult size is approximately from 2.0 to 2.4 inches
• Dark, metallic green face and frons with pale around the mouth
• Metallic emerald eyes
• Thorax brown and metallic green with 2 pale stripes
• Pale spot on abdominal segment 2 and ring between segment 2 and 3
• Dark legs
• Dark abdomen, segments 4 to 10 are hairy and unmarked
• Dark terminal appendages. Cerci are long and point upward at the tip

Field Marks

• Female is colored similarly to the male
• Females abdomen is less restricted at segments 3 and 4 than the male
• Downward pointing subgenital plate is long and triangular shaped from the side, scoop shaped from behind
• Cerci are long, equal to about the length of segments 9 and 10 combined

Behavior

Males patrol, typically flying low and slow, stopping often to hover. Occasionally found away from the breeding grounds

Habitat

Slow-moving streams flowing through bogs and swamps, spring-fed and beaver ponds, lake inlets and outlets

Reproduction

Females lay eggs by dipping their abdomen into the water at intervals along the bank or shoreline