Kauaʻi record · KCA-IA-00592
Rambur's Forktail
Ischnura ramburii
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About Rambur's Forktail
Rambur's Forktail (Ischnura ramburii) is a member of Coenagrionidae in the order Odonata. Its recorded origin status on Kauaʻi is introduced.
Rambur's Forktail (Ischnura ramburii) is documented from Kauaʻi. Damselflies have aquatic predatory naiads and aerial predatory adults. Hawaiian Megalagrion have radiated into streams, seeps, bogs, wet rock faces, and other specialized freshwater habitats. On Kauaʻi, observations are most useful when they record adult sex/color phase, breeding habitat, naiad presence, water conditions, and precise locality/elevation. Where island-specific host, prey, breeding-site, abundance, or seasonal information is not yet firmly documented, those details should remain tied to direct specimens and field observations rather than inferred from populations elsewhere.
Rambur's Forktail (Ischnura ramburii) is an introduced damselfly common in slow-water wetlands, stream pools, ditches, and other vegetated freshwater habitat on Kauaʻi. Adult males have a diagnostic blue terminal abdominal patch; females can be orange or duller and may be confused with native damselflies.
Kauaʻi occurrence evidence: Waimea River and Māhaʻulepū Kauaʻi surveys explicitly record the species; Bishop Museum describes it as introduced and common across the Hawaiian Islands.
The cited occurrence evidence does not by itself establish current abundance or population trend on Kauaʻi.
Life cycle
Egg; aquatic naiad; emergence/final molt; winged adult; no pupa.
Habitat
Streams, seeps, bogs, waterfalls, wet rock, or other freshwater habitats depending on species.
Food and ecological role
Naiads prey on aquatic invertebrates; adults capture small flying insects.
Reproduction
Adults mate near habitat and females lay eggs in or near water or wet plant tissue.
Movement
Adults fly among breeding sites; naiads remain aquatic.
Ecosystem role
Predator in both aquatic and aerial food webs.
Threats and impacts
Habitat alteration, hydrologic change, invasive aquatic predators, and loss of intact native wet habitats can be important.
Monitoring
Record adult sex/color phase, breeding habitat, naiad presence, water conditions, and precise locality/elevation.
Names and classification
- Scientific name
- Ischnura ramburii
- Common names
- Rambur's Forktail
- Family
- Coenagrionidae
- Order
- Odonata
- Record type
- species
Kauaʻi occurrence and status
- Kauaʻi occurrence
- Present
- Origin
- Introduced
- Conservation status
- Not assessed
Process and seasonal context
- Seasonal description
- Rambur's Forktail (Ischnura ramburii) is a member of Coenagrionidae in the order Odonata. Its recorded origin status on Kauaʻi is introduced.