Azure Bluet / Agrion saupoudré
Enallagma aspersum
Fundy Nature Notes, Quotes and Anecdotes 2
Azure Bluet / Agrion saupoudré
(Enallagma aspersum)
Adult size: 30-33 mm
Habitat/Status: Generally uncommon and local in the Maritimes. Occurs almost exclusively in fishless waters, including small, boggy ponds where it typically perches on water lilies; also in temporary, recent ponds such as roadside ditches and gravel pit ponds; occasionally in small streams.
Typical flight period: In the Maritimes, this species generally flies from early July to early September. The current late record for this species is held for individuals seen in Fundy on October 11th, 2013 (dates June 25th NS – October 11th, 2013, MacLaren Pond, Fundy National Park).
ID hints: A smallish bluet with a mostly dark abdomen; in the lower abdomen beyond S3, only part of segment 7 and all of 8 and 9 are blue, with the rest being black, giving this species a very dark, “blue-tipped” appearance. The abdominal colourations in this species in both the male and the female are unique among our damselflies.
General Nature Notes, Quotes and Anecdotes: The Azure Bluet is one of a suite of Odonata found most frequently associated with fishless ponds. This is a species that is known to quickly colonize newly-formed habitats (including man-made ones). Along with the Boreal Bluet, the Vesper Bluet (Enallagma vesperum) and the Skimming Bluet (Enallagma geminatum), all of which occur in the Maritimes, this species was the subject of a seminal behavioural study on the differences between damselflies from fishless ponds (the Azure Bluet, Boreal Bluet and others) and damselflies and ponds having fish (the Vesper Bluet, the Skimming Bluet and others) by Mark McPeek in the late 1980s. His study, entitled “Behavioral Differences between Enallagma Species (Odonata) Influencing Differential Vulnerability to Predators” and published in the journal “Ecology” in 1990, showed that fishless pond species of damselflies such as the Azure Bluet feed more actively and are consequently better competitors in habitats devoid of fish. However, their inability to recognize fish as predators, combined with their tendency of being more active (thus more visible), made them much more vulnerable in ponds having Odonata-eating fish, especially when compared to species such as the Vesper Bluet and Skimming Bluet. These latter species both spent more time hiding in wait for their food to come to them and also recognized fish as predators and tended to freeze in their presence, making them less conspicuous and less likely to get eaten!
Sources and Credits
- (c) Denis Doucet, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Denis Doucet
- (c) Denis Doucet, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
More Info
iNaturalist.ca Map
| Family | Coenagrionidae (Pond Damsels) |
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