Eastern Forktail vs Hemiandrus Earwig

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Eastern Forktail Hemiandrus Earwig
Scientific Name Ischnura verticalis Hemimerus talpoides
Order Odonata Dermaptera
Family Coenagrionidae Hemimeridae
Size 21-33 mm 8-12 mm
Habitat Ponds & Lakes Farmland
Diet Omnivores Omnivores
Regions North America Sub-Saharan Africa
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Eastern Forktail

A small damselfly where males are green and black with a blue tail tip. Young females are bright orange but turn olive-grey with age.

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Did You Know?

Young females are striking bright orange, a color they lose completely as they mature.

Hemiandrus Earwig

A blind, wingless earwig that lives exclusively as a commensal on giant pouched rats. Its cerci are modified into short, unsegmented claspers rather than the typical forceps.

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Did You Know?

Unlike all other earwigs, Hemimerus gives birth to live young that develop inside the mother via a placenta-like structure.