Marla Garrison’s wonderful Damselflies of the Chicago Region taught me to look for the “bat” image on the lower part of the azure bluet’s abdomen (most people call it “the tail”). Here’s a picture of a just-emerged Azure Bluet. Azure Bluets are most active in summer. Azure damselfly (Coenagrion puella) pair mating. Northern Damselflies Coenagrion hastatum mating pair. Last updated: Jan 30 2021. The male waits for her above-decks and reclaims her, but she’s no longer interested. Bluets are damselflies in the Narrow-winged/Pond Damselfly family Coenagrionidae, which also includes the dancers, forktails and sprites. A single blue band on each side of the thorax sits above more blue. Bluet is a herbaceous perennial wildflower that may grow to a height of 6 inches. Most of Wisconsin’s 20 species of bluets are in the genus Enallagma (the American bluets), and except for two species that apparently didn’t get the memo (Orange and Vesper Bluets), males of most species have various amounts of blue and black on their thorax and abdomen (the front end of a Rainbow Bluet is so exciting that you don’t even notice the rear end). Damselfly sex. After mating, they fly in tandem, looking for a suitable spot for her to oviposit. This is an average sized damselfly which makes delicate when comapared to a dragonfly. Coenagrion puella - Flickr - gailhampshire.jpg 2,376 × 2,144; 355 KB Azure Bluets (Enallagma aspersum) are small (about 1 ¼”), black-type bluets. Look for them at ponds and other small bodies of water. PrintPrepared by Jennifer L. D’Appollonio, Assistant Scientist, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469. It is found in North America. The striking blue color is seen on both males and females. In that spirit, she offers this quote from Canadian broadcaster, reporter, and writer Peter Gzowski: “We need spring. Status: Azure Bluet (Enallagma aspersum) is a distinctively-patterned bluet species which can often be common to abundant at vegetated ponds, especially ones lacking fish.It is a good disperser, and often is one of the first odonate species to colonize new aquatic habitat (Paulson, 2011). 1 Azure Bluet in a crafting grid makes 2 Light Gray Dye. The Blue Damselfly is a beautiful yet fragile bug, with body made of multiple segments. I haven’t found confirmation of that theory, but it’s a nice idea. It is mostly decorative, although it is also used for crafting Light GrayDye. The last few segments of the abdomen are blue with a hint of black on the topside of the last segment. Up until the third week of January, we were having “Winter Lite” here in God’s Country. Coenagrion puella - macro detail of insect intercourse. After mating, a typical female bluet perches on a favorable stem at the surface and backs down the plant stem, inserting eggs into it as she goes (see the photo above of a pair of Marsh Bluets); if she submerges, the male releases her. - Jussi Murtosaari L'Agrion jouvencelle - Azure Bluet Damselfly I am astonished to discover that I have never featured one of the most common of the blue damselflies on the blog! This species is marked with a powder blue and mainly black. Bugguide.net tells us that the Azure Bluet has a wide range – “Most of the Eastern United States, also a disjunct population in Montana. Lots of colors come from dietary pigments – flamingoes are pink because of a carotenoids that they get from the tiny crustaceans they eat. Before the advent of eyes (about 600,000,000 years ago) color didn’t matter. Scientific name: Coenagrion puella. On the RGB color wheel, "azure" ( hexadecimal #007FFF) is defined as the color at … Dragonflies do not have hinged wings. The female has two large blue spots on the 7th and 8th segments of her black abdomen. Authored By Staff Writer; Content ©www.InsectIdentification.org. Azure Bluet Coenagrion Puella. TheAzure Bluetis a small, white flower introduced in 1.7. With a few minor twists and turns, the life history of an Azure Bluet mirrors that of any bluet. Primary Color: Black Blue Brown Copper Gold Gray Green Ivory Orange Pink Purple Red Tan Yellow White Tag Archives: Azure bluet Spring has sprung – at last! license: Free for personal and commercial use, No attribution required.But we would appreciate if you could place a link refer to Hippopx. For the sake of identification, bluets are divided visually into three groups. The Azure Bluet is often seen flying near water sources that are slow-moving if they have a current at all. Bluets are damselflies in the Narrow-winged/Pond Damselfly family Coenagrionidae, which also includes the dancers, forktails and sprites. Butterflies. For a deeper, more technical dive, try this one. This photo is from last year, but they should be out and about around Preuilly now. Female Azure Bluets take the bull by the horns, find a good piece of vegetation, and march down it headfirst to oviposit near the base of the plant. Capability, Shape, Texture/Pattern, Benefits, Dangers. Damselflies have hinged wings that can be folded back against the body. Try digging a wildlife pond in your garden to attract damselflies and dragonflies. An Azure Bluet’s amazing color is all the more amazing because no blue pigment exists in bugs (or vertebrates, either). Which gave rise to one of the BugLady’s favorite quotes: The eye of the trilobite tells us that the sun shone on the old beach where he lived; for there is nothing in Nature without a purpose, and when so complicated an organ was made to receive the light, there must have been light to enter it.” (Louis Agassiz, Professor of Zoology, Harvard, 1870). Updated: 1/26/2021; Back to: CalPhotos > Browse Photos > Invertebrate-insect > Common Names << previous Azure - Banded next >>. This species is common in Maryland, and is widely distributed across the state (Richard … Azure damselflies Coenagrion puella mating pair on water lilies in pond. There are many different bluets on the prairie, but this azure bluet damselfly in the prairie savanna grasses is a new discovery for me, and for our site. Males hang out along the shore chasing rival males away from good egg-laying spots and waiting for females, which don’t approach the water until they are reproductively ready. View lists of our local butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies to find out their common name, scientific name, and if they are at risk. Females are another story altogether; they’re greenish or tan far more often than blue, and when they are blue, they are less so than males. Paulson, in Dragonflies and Damselflies of the East, says that it is “a good disperser, and often is one of the first Odonate species to colonize new aquatic habitat.” It’s not widely distributed in Wisconsin; Bob DuBois, in the excellent Damselflies of the North Woods calls it “local in our region, but may be abundant once found.” It’s a “Most Wanted” species in Wisconsin. identification=Azure-Bluet-Damselfly B) Azure Bluet Damselfly/ Enallagma aspersum C) Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Anthropoda Class: Insecta Order: Odonata Family: Coenagrionidae Genus: Enallagma Species: aspersum D) E) The damselfly has a thin abdomen that is mostly black with a bright blue end. Updated February 2018. Lily Zolman Bio 112 A) 8/27/2020? For better or worse, color makes its wearer conspicuous, which can be desirable (courtship displays or warning coloration) or undesirable (red sea slug on green kelp – oops!). The thorax is a darker blue than the … Ponds, marshes, bogs, and lakes are all great habitats for this type of damselfly that feeds on small flying insects. In most cases, if fish are present in a pond, then Azure Bluets are not. Learn about some of the different insects and other "bugs" present in the Ottawa area. The Azure Bluet … AZURE BLUET Enallagma aspersum POND DAMSEL FAMILY (Coenagrionidae) Description The Azure Bluet is 1 – 1.3 inches in length. Hagen, 1861 Northern Bluet Enallagma antennatum Say, 1839 Rainbow Bluet Enallagma aspersum Hagen, 1861 Azure Bluet Enallagma basidens Calvert Bluet Enallagma recurvatum, Pine Barrens Bluet Enallagma signatum, Orange Bluet Enallagma traviatum, Slender Bluet Enallagma vesperum, Vesper Bluet Ischnura Pinhey s whisp Agriocnemis ruberrima, orange … Even in a group of damselflies that are called bluets, the Azure Bluet is an amazing color! Blue flowers with yellow centers first mature in mid-spring and continue into mid summer. Another thing to notice about female Azure Bluets is that their eyespots are often greenish, and noticeably smaller than those of the male. Since then we’ve had snow, more snow, a visit from the Polar Vortex, ice, and even more snow. The intensity of the blue can vary depending on the amount of light and the angle of the viewer. Scientific name: Houstonia caerulea L. Common name(s): azure bluet, little bluet, Quaker ladies Links: USDA PLANTS Profile , NPIN Profile, Go Botany Images: (to see enlargements [PC]: click on image, then right click and choose “view image”) … Blue is tough to glean from dietary pigments. Like other damselflies, the immatures (naiads) are aquatic. - Adrian Davies If it has more than 8 legs, it is neither an insect nor a spider. By Overkirils Insects 1 Comment. Males have large “eyespots” (postocular blue spots) on the back of their heads, and females’ eyespots are smaller. A single blue band on each side of the thorax sits above more blue. Azure Bluets are found in most of the Eastern United States and into Canada. It appears in almost all grassy biomes (swamps and taigas are the exceptions). The leaves that originate at the base of the stem are large, while the two leaves on the stem are small. I’m sure there are other differences, but I need to do a little more reading on the subject. The thorax, like the female’s, is blue with black middorsal and thoracic stripes. We haven’t had a long winter, but at the risk of sounding like wimps, we’re ready to start that slow climb toward spring (the BugLady heard a Cardinal singing the other day). The male azure bluet damselfly is a tiny jewel that is most often seen near ponds … Female Azure Bluets don’t have tan or green forms, and they are almost as blue as males, but instead of a solid blue tip, their abdomen has a pair of “spats” on both segments 8 and 9. The striking blue color is seen on both males and females. Azure Bluet (Enallagma aspersum) It actually turns out that these weren’t dragonflies at all, but rather they were damselflies. In most bluet species the 8th and 9th segments, at the end of the abdomen, are blue, but the Azure Bluet also has blue on part of the 7th segment. Note: Some common names may appear more than once in the group below. We need it desperately, and, usually, we need it before God is willing to give it to us.”, Chronological Index to the Field Station Bulletin. Howdy, BugFans, Even in a group of damselflies that are called bluets, the Azure Bluet is an amazing color! She may descend more than a foot below the surface and stay under for 15 or 20 minutes (she turns gray while she’s down there, according to Paulson). It is theorized that this will allow her eggs to survive the drop in water level caused by a summer drought. Surrey, UK. Some of my favorite insects are the odonates, the damselflies and dragonflies. Azure Bluets (Enallagma aspersum) are small (about 1 ¼”), black-type bluets. Posted on April 8, ... of bees and flies collect nectar and pollen from these flowers and I have been told that the stripes help guide the insects to the pollen. This indicates that the same common name is being used for more than one scientific name. The abdomen is slender and black with most of segment 7 and all of 8, 9 and 10 being blue. The world was far from black and white – animals get some of their pigments in the foods they eat, so there probably was color in that dark world – but its appearance was unappreciated. In most bluet species the 8th and 9th segments, at the end of the abdomen, are blue, but the Azure Bluet also has blue on part of the 7th segment. The leaves are opposite with a smooth margin. Azure Bluet Enallagma aspersum Fulton Ponds Howard County, Maryland July 3, 2005 Photographer: Richard Orr. If the abdomen is mainly blue, they’re in the “blue-type bluet” group; if it’s mostly black, they’re “black-type bluets; and if it’s about fifty-fifty, they’re “intermediate-type bluets.” Bluets can be tricky to identify, and hand lens examination may be required. The Azure Bluet is often seen flying near water sources that are slow-moving if they have a current at all. The blue often very intense. The Azure damselfly is a pale blue, small damselfly that is commonly found around most waterbodies from May to September. In Canada, reported from Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia.” Within that range it’s found in a variety of (preferably fish-free) shallow lakes, ponds, swamps, bogs, and wetland edges with a lot of vegetation, but it’s pretty adaptable and will colonize gravel pits and man-made ponds. Azure Bluet Coenagrion puella - Flickr - gailhampshire.jpg 2,139 × 2,368; 594 KB Azure Bluet Female , blue form. Ponds, marshes, bogs, and lakes are all great habitats for this type of damselfly that feeds on small flying insects. Click here to find out more about this arrangement. A male has two bright blue 'eye spots' that sit on the backside of his round eyes. It was only AE (After Eyes) that color mattered. Enallagma aspersum, the azure bluet, is a species of narrow-winged damselfly in the family Coenagrionidae. They can be a challenge to identify but the males are often very colorful and distinctive. The azure bluet is a species of damselfly that is often seen in and around Iowa waterways. Azure damselfly (Coenagrion puella), female, Finland, June. The male has blue eyes. Despite their beauty, Damselflies are extremely voracious predators. The period between mating and ovipositing can be dicey – rival males are ready to pirate the lady – so the male retains his grip on the back of her head (contact guarding). 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