Blue-tailed Damselfly

The Blue-tailed Damselfly have an almost solid black abdomen and a blue ‘tail’ in males, though this can be brown in females. The male always has a blue spot at the ‘tail’, blue ante-humeral stripes on the thorax and blue eyes.

The female varies with at least 5 different colour forms. There are two immature female forms. The thorax markings and the tail spot are violet in the form ‘violacea’ and a salmon pink thorax and blue tail spot in the form ‘rufescens’. There are three forms when the female matures. The form ‘typica’ which is blue like the male, an olive green thorax and brown tail spot in the form ‘infuscans’ and a pale brown thorax and brown tail spot in the form ‘infuscans-obseleta’.

Male and female both have diamond shaped ‘two tone’ wing spots on the front wings.

They can be seen from April to September, occasionally into early October in a wide range of lowland habitats, ponds, lakes or slow-moving water including brackish water where it can be the only species present.

The Blue-tailed Damselfly is a very common species which can be found almost anywhere in Britain.