Coenagrion puella
Coenagrion puella (Linnaeus, 1758)
Local names: Azure damselfly, Hufeisen-Azurjungfer, Azuurwaterjuffe, Agrion jouvencelle, Ljus lyrflickslända
Species Information
Description
Males of Coenagrion puella are light blue with black abdominal markings and bands that have long and thin lateral extensions, like prongs, extending forward so much so that in a side view the abdomen appears to be crossed by an almost continuous black line. It can be distinguished from C. pulchellum by the marking on S2 in the shape of a U, rather than a Y, and in which the U is never connected to the hind margin of the segment. It can be further distinguished by the light blue antehumeral stripes on the thorax which are complete, rather than interrupted. The females are most often green-blue, yellow or sometimes blue with black markings. A correct identification of the females is difficult and can only be made with certainty by checking the shape of the hind margin of the pronotum. In both the males and the females, the postocular spots are not connected centrally by a light blue line across the back of the head..
Size
Habitat
Coenagrion puella is found at a wide range of standing and slow-flowing waters. These are largely unshaded and generally mesotrophic to eutrophic with well-developed bank-side vegetation. The species clearly favours waters with floating vegetation, which is used as substrate for oviposition. It is generally absent from temporary and fluctuating waters as well as from brackish habitats. Suitable habitats include drainage ditches and other canals, garden ponds, natural lakes and ponds, peat bogs and fens with open water. Also it is found, although generally in lower numbers, in lowland streams, rivers and backwaters such as oxbow lakes and ponds. Population density is generally low on peaty or clay soils, where the species tend to be outnumbered by C. pulchellum. C. puella has a wide altitudinal range and is found up to 2 000- 2 500 m in the south of its range.
Distribution
The species is one of the most widespread and common damselfly in Europe and there is no indication of decline. It often occurs at high densities. It is absent from the northern half of Fennoscandia and is rare or absent from most parts of the Iberian Peninsula. It ranges east to the western Siberian lowlands. It is absent on Crete, where it is replaced by C. intermedium.
Flight Period
April/May to September
Behavior
Look for this speceies by water or a bit away from it in sunny, wind-protected glades or bush-edges. Look for it low, it rarely flies above waist height. It rarely flies out over open water, as opposed to also light blue Enallagma cyathigerum, whom it otherwise often shares habitats with.
Similar Species
Coenagrion pulchellum
External Links
Genus: Coenagrion
Coenagrion is a genus of damselflies in the family Coenagrionidae, commonly called the Eurasian Bluets (although three species are found in North America). Species of Coenagrion are generally medium-sized, brightly coloured damselflies.
Identification
Males are small blue damselflies with black markings. The blue areas may be partly greenish or whitish. Females have more extensive black markings, and are more often green or brownish. A damselfly with plain pterostigmas, with roundish postocular spots, with antehumeral stripes narrower than the black line below it, and with two short black lines on the thorax sides, will in most cases belong to Coenagrion.
Separation from other genera
Enallagma normally have antehumeral stripes wider than the black line below them and just one short black line on the thorax side. Ischnura males have bi-coloured pterostigma. Enallagma and Ischnura females have a vulvar spine. Erythromma species are darker, with reduced or no postocular spots, and males have red or all-blue eyes, whereas eyes of Coenagrion are blue with dark caps. The blue Erythromma lindenii is very similar, but differs in many details, like wider antehumeral stripes, an all-black upperside to S2 and a shorter 'tail-light' positioned further at the tip of the abdomen.
Behaviour
Males typically fly low among or along riparian vegetation. They rarely venture far from water. MAles and females in tandems often oviposit in concentrations on floating vegetation. The male often holds a conspicuous upright posture when in tandem with the female.
Family: Coenagrionidae
The insect family Coenagrionidae is placed in the order Odonata and the suborder Zygoptera. The Zygoptera are the damselflies, which although less known than the dragonflies, are no less common. More than 1,300 species are in this family, making it the largest damselfly family. The family Coenagrionidae has six subfamilies: Agriocnemidinae, Argiinae, Coenagrioninae, Ischnurinae, Leptobasinae, and Pseudagrioninae.
This family is referred to as the narrow-winged damselflies or the pond damselflies. The Coenagrionidae enjoy a worldwide distribution, and are among the most common of damselfly families. This family has the smallest of damselfly species. More than 110 genera of the family Coenagrionidae are currently accepted.
The family was named by William Forsell Kirby in 1890. The name may be derived from Greek coen meaning shared or common and agrio meaning fields or wild.