My last post also included the table I’m going to show below, but I wanted to do a post with my comparison table and photos to actually show the Attenuated Bluet (Enallagma daeckii) and the Pale Bluet (Enallagma pallidum).
In the photos, the length and thinness of the Attenuated Bluet is fairly obvious in comparison to the Pale Bluet. The amount of black on the thorax is also fairly visible.
Below are the two females side-by-side. You’ll see how the tan median line on the thorax is outlined with a faint black line on the Pale Bluet female. And note the eyes on the Attenuated Bluet female with the brown lines encircling the upper half.
| Characteristic | Attenuated Bluet (Male) | Pale Bluet (Male) | Attenuated Bluet (Female) | Pale Bluet (Female) |
| Eyes | Blue over green | All blue | Tan, darker above with two brown lines encircling upper half | Light Blue over Tan |
| Eye Spots | Large pale blue spots | Thin black line between eyes | ||
| Head | Almost all pale | Blue | Black with fine black marks | |
| Thorax | Light blue | Light Blue | Greenish tinged with blue | Light Blue |
| Stripes | Very thin to no black median and humeral, humeral often broken | Narrow black median and humeral stripes | Narrow median and humeral tan stripes with thin black edges | |
| Legs | Pale | |||
| Abdomen | Black above | Black Above | Black above, scarcely any basal rings | Black above, with pale sides |
| S1 | Pale Blue | Blue | ||
| S2 | Blue on sides | Blue on sides | ||
| S3 | Blue on base | |||
| …S7 | Blue on distal third, blue extends to tip of S7 | Blue with black stripe on upper surface | ||
| S8 | All Blue | All Blue | Blue with black stripe on upper surface | Blue with black basil triangle |
| S9 | All Blue | All Blue | Blue | Blue, brighter and may be greenish |
| S10 | All Blue | All Blue | Blue | Blue, brighter and may be greenish |
| Overall | Very long and slender, almost no black on the head, thorax, or abdomen tip | Color ranges from light blue to greenish-blue or tan | ||
| Behavior | Perches higher than other bluets; hovers |
Below are another two species, the Variable Dancer, Argia fumipennis, & Blue-tipped Dancer, Argia tibialis, that really aren’t that similar and wouldn’t normally be confused, although I managed to do so once. I’m including the photos and table to show how these comparison tables can be modified to use with any two species.
There are two photos of the Blue-tipped Dancer female because I often see both the brown form and the blue form. I wish I had a better photo of the Variable Dancer female, but…there it is. Nothing is perfect.
| Characteristic | Variable Dancer (Male) | Blue-tipped Dancer (Male) | Variable Dancer (Female) | Blue-tipped Dancer (Female) |
| Eyes | Violet | Eyes and top of head are dark | Darker brown above with tan below | Eyes are dark |
| Eye Spots | Large violet spots | Purple (if present) | Light tan or violet | Pale spots (if present) |
| Head | Violet | Face dark purple | Tan | Tan or blue |
| Thorax | Violet | Upper thorax dark purple, lower is cream/white | Brown or violet | Tan or blue |
| Stripes | Black middorsal stripe and shoulder stripe that forks at the end | Black middorsal stripe and unforked broad shoulder stripe | Black middorsal stripe and shoulder stripe that forks at the end | Black middorsal stripe and forked broad shoulder stripe with a pale triangle (color of the thorax) at the end |
| Legs | Dark stripe on upper leg, otherwise pale | Dark with thin pale stripe on outer edge | Dark stripe on upper leg, otherwise pale | Legs are largely pale |
| Abdomen | Mostly violet with black rings on S3-6. Continuous ventrolateral stripe on S8-S10 | Black with pale rings on S5-7 | Pale with black lateral stripes on S2-7, maybe to S8 | Darker abdomen than Variable, dark upper and pale below |
| S1 | Mostly violet | |||
| S2 | Mostly violet | |||
| S3 | Violet with black ring | |||
| …S7 | Black with violet ring | |||
| S8 | All Blue | Black | ||
| S9 | All Blue | All Blue | Pale marking may be present | |
| S10 | All Blue | All Blue | Ovipositor and S10 are pale | Pale |
| Overall | 2 subspecies, the nominate one with dark wings and and ssp. violacea without dark wings | Color ranges from brown to violet | Color ranges from tan to blue | |
| Behavior | Often perches along roadsides | Usually perches on ground but will perch on vegetation in the shade |
Perhaps this type of information will be useful. It has certainly been helpful to me.
In the future, I intend to print out the species accounts from the NC Odonate Website for the Odonata species I have observed. Then, I will print out my photos as well as these tables. Then I will add everything, as well as any notes I wish to include, into a 3-ring binder to form my own guide to local dragonflies and damselflies.
One of the things I would like to include in my own guide is habitat information and what species may be found together in one type of habitat. An example of that is a description of the stream area in our swamp, both forested and sunny. Then I will include the species I have found in that particular environment.
An example would be at the edge of the forested swamp along and in the first stream. There seem to be quite a few dragonflies and damselflies that like that edge where there is a great deal of aquatic vegetation as well as everything from shady under the trees to sunny in the clearing. The stream has a murky, muddy bottom.
Species I’ve found there include: Orange Bluets, Duckweed Firetails, Furtive Forktails, Citrine Forktails, Fragile Forktails, Elegant Spreadwings, Swamp Spreadwings, Cyrano Darners, Needham’s Skimmer, Painted Skimmers, Bar-winged Skimmers, Golden-winged Skimmers, Great Blue Skimmers, Slaty Skimmers, Blue Dashers, and Eastern Pondhawks. (I’m sure I’m forgetting some…) Some of the skimmers prefer to stay in the sunnier areas, but ones like the Great Blue Skimmer can be found streamside deep in the swamp forest.
So those are the kinds of species I might expect to find in that environment, as opposed to a woodland stream with a sandy bottom for example. At woodland streams with sandy bottoms, I’ve found the following:
Ebony Jewelwings, Blue-tipped Dancers, Fragile Forktails, Great Blue Skimmers, Eastern Pondhawks, Blue Dashers, Black-shouldered Spinylegs, Dragonhunters, and Common Sanddragons.
I am always interested in what creatures share a particular environment so I really want to compile that information. I always like to know if I go to particular area, what I might see there.
So those are my plans… Lots to do, that’s for sure.
