Field Marks

• Average adult size is approximately from 2.6 to 3.0 inches
• Brown face with bold yellow crossline and yellow spots on the top of frons
• Large metallic green eyes
• Dark metallic green and brown thorax with one yellow side stripe in the middle
• Black legs
• Shiny black abdomen with a yellow ring on segment 2, pair of yellow triangles on segments 3 and 4, a broad yellow ring, that is visible in flight, at the base of segment 7, and a pair of small spots on segment 8
• Segment 7 to 10 show moderate clubbing
• Dark terminal appendages

Field Marks

• Female is colored similarly to the male
• Female has more prominent top spots on segment 3 to 6
• No noticeable clubbing at the end of the abdomen which is all black
• Very small subgenital plates

Behavior

Active from almost dusk to dark, males make long distance patrol flights following the shoreline and darting after any interloper or female that they might find. When they are not flying they typically perch vertically from tree branches in the canopy, branches on bushes, weeds or other vegetation

Habitat

Large streams and rivers, lakes with open shoreline

Reproduction

Females lay eggs by flying swift, low over the water and tapping their abdomen on the surface in intervals up to about 30 feet