Английская Википедия:Blue-tailed damselfly

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The blue-tailed damselfly or common bluetail (Ischnura elegans) is a damselfly, belonging to the family Coenagrionidae.

Subspecies and varieties

Subspecies and varieties include:

• Ischnura elegans ebneri Schmidt, 1938
• Ischnura elegans elegans (Vander Linden, 1820)
• Ischnura elegans pontica Schmidt, 1939
• Ischnura elegans f. infuscans
• Ischnura elegans f. infuscans-obsoleta
• Ischnura elegans f. rufescens
• Ischnura elegans f. typica
• Ischnura elegans f. violacea

Distribution

This species is present in most of Europe and the middle-east. It is a common species.

Habitat

These damselflies can be found in a wide range of lowland environments, with standing and slow flowing waters, brackish and polluted water.

Description

Файл:Blue-tailed damselfies (Ischnura elegans) mating female typica 4.jpg

mating

Ischnura elegans can reach a body length of Шаблон:Convert and a wingspan of about Шаблон:Convert. Hindwings reach alength of Шаблон:Convert. Adult male blue-tailed damselflies have a head and thorax patterned with blue and black. There is a bi-coloured pterostigma on the front wings. Eyes are blue. They have a largely black abdomen with very narrow pale markings where each segment joins the next. Segment eight, however, is entirely pale blue. At rest, the wings of most damselfly species are held back together, unlike dragonflies, which rest with their wings out flat. The thorax of juvenile males has a green tinge.

Female blue-tailed Damselflies come in a variety of colour forms. Juveniles may be salmon pink, form rufescens; violet, form violacea and a pale green form. The colour darkens as the damselfly ages. Mature females may be blue like the male, form typica; olive green thorax and brown spot, form infuscans or pale brown thorax and brown spot, form infusca-obseleta.

Biology and behavior

Adults fly from April to September to early October. The adult damselflies prey on small flying insects, caught using their legs like a basket to scoop the prey up while flying, or insects taken from leaves. Damselfly nymphs are aquatic, and prey on small aquatic insects or other aquatic larvae.

A male can try to interfere with a mating pair, by attaching itself to the mating male. The females always lay their eggs on the floating parts of the plants without any involvement of the male.

Blue-tailed Damselflies are superb fliers and can alter each of their four wing's kinematics in order to maneuver. A recent study has shown that they can compensate for a whole wing loss and even successfully maneuver and catch prey.

Gallery

• Mating, female f. typica

  Mating, female f. typica

• nymph

  nymph

• emerging

  emerging

• Immature male

  Immature male

• teneral female form rufescens

  teneral female form rufescens

• Female form rufescens

  Female form rufescens

• Female form violacea

  Female form violacea

• Female form rufescens-obsoleta

  Female form rufescens-obsoleta

External links

• Шаблон:Commons category inline
• Шаблон:Wikispecies inline

Шаблон:Coenagrionidae-stub