Quick Identification Guide

 
Welcome to my quick identification guide for the Blue Tailed Damselfly. These graphics are meant as a guide to the key identifying features of both the male and the female damselflies.

The text section has been kindly written and supplied by Mr Ken Crick.

The male Blue Tailed Damselfly

The male is a slim damselfly with an almost all black upper surface to both the abdomen and thorax. The thorax has two fine blue strips. The eighth segment of the abdomen is all blue. The black of the remainder of the abdomen is broken only by a fine light line at each abdominal segment joint. The flanks of the thorax are sky blue. Sexually immature males vary in colour. The ultimately blue areas of the thorax starting off grey / green and abdominal segment 8 grey / violet.

The female Blue Tailed Damselfly

The females abdomen is of a considerably heavier build than the male. The flanks of the thorax can be seen in one of four colour forms, rose pink, violet, green or blue. The blue form, which closely resembles the male, being the most commonly observed.