This damselfly, a young orange female Eastern Forktail, is of a species often seen near ponds in Minnesota. The male Eastern Forktail is mostly green and black. Older females look blue or frosty violet. Forktails Ischnura verticalis live through winter in the water as nymphs, feeding on smaller aquatic critters. But they are also prey for larger aquatic creatures. If they make it through to springtime, they emerge out of the water as adult damselflies. If they can avoid being eaten by a bird, they will mate and deposit eggs into plant stems or floating material. The eggs later hatch and release new nymphs into the pond for next year's damselflies.
