Photos

Various photos of Common Blue Damselfly - Enallagma cyathigerum, the female has several colour forms that can make identification more difficult.

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  Drab form female, Kempston
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  Immature male, Kempston. Immature males are a paler blue than mature specimens.
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  Immature male, Kempston. Immature males are a paler blue than mature specimens.
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  Mature drab form female, Kempston
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  Drab form female, Kempston
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  Pair "in cop" at Felmersham NR
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  Pair ovipositing at Felmersham NR. The female is the greenish drab form.

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  Male flying over the River Great Ouse near the Biddenham Country Walk.
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  A mature male at Felmersham NR, the mature male is a more intense blue than the immature male.
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  A mature male at Felmersham NR.
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  Immature drab form female, Felmersham NR
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  Mature male, feeding at Felmersham NR
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  Mass breeding at Felmersham NR. Both blue and drab forms of the female are seen.
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  Pairs "in cop" at Felmersham NR. Blue form female on the left, and drab form on the right.

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  Pair "in cop" at Felmersham NR, drab form female.
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  Male meeting a grisly end, caught by a polymorphic spider, Enoplognatha ovata.
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  Male meeting a grisly end, caught by a polymorphic spider, Enoplognatha ovata.
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  Male, flexing its abdomen as part of it's cleaning routine, River Great Ouse at Kempston Church End.
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  Same male as previous picture, back in the normal posture, River Great Ouse at Kempston Church End.
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  Male, Felmersham NR.
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  Pair in tandem, blue form female, Felmersham NR.

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  Mature male at Felmersham NR.
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  Pair in tandem, drab form female, Felmersham NR.

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Main features

Classification:

Odonata
	Zygoptera			Damselflies
		Coenagrionidae		Blue or red damselflies

Similar to most of the other blue damselflies. Males feature a "lollipop" or mushroom shaped marking on segment 2, that and the plain sides to the thorax are the best way to identify them.

Segments 8 and 9 are entirely blue in males, with blue and black markings along the rest of the abdomen.

Females exist in 3 different colour forms, 2 are drab coloured and the other blue. All females have black marking on segments 8 and 9. Females have a spine on the underside of segment 8.

Habitat

Large ponds, lakes, gravel pits and slow rivers, with submerged vegetation used as ovipositing sites. Frequents vegetation away from water when not breeding.

Where to see

Very common throughout the county, looking out over large bodies of water, such as those at Felmersham NR or Priory CP, they form a moving blue haze as huge numbers of them hover over the water in search of ovipositing sites.

Visible between mid May and early October.