Damselfly Abdominal Patterns
The amount of color on the abdomen can be an important clue to ID. Also pay
attention to the pattern and shape of the coloring. Especially note the coloring
of the terminal segments 8, 9 & 10; the extent of coloring at the tip may be
more important than the overall color of the rest of the abdomen.
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Note the large amount of black on the abdomen of this Taiga Bluet
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Here the abdomen is largely blue with variable black distal rings on each segment
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In this case, the black forms sharply pointed arrows into the blue.
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In identifying Bluets, the blue species can be grouped into two categories, the
ones with mostly blue abdomens and those with black abdomens. The exact
amount of blue is extremely variable within each species, both individually and
geographically, so attempts to narrow them more than this usually fail.
When identifying Spreadwings, the presence and pattern of pruinosity on segments
8-10 are significant.
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