SLENDER BLUET Enallagma traviatum

DRAGONFLIES AND DAMSELFLIES OF WEST VIRGINIA SPECIES PAGE

Slender Bluets, as the common name implies, are blue damselflies with thin abdomens. The eyespots in both sexes are large, with a thin blue line between them. The black shoulder stripes are thin in both sexes.

On the males, abdominal segments 8 and 9 are blue. Segment 10 is black and its terminal appendages are longer than in similar species.

On females, segments 8-10 are blue, while on top of segment 8 is a black bar or T-shaped mark.

Favored habitats are large ponds and lakes, particularly those with the forest edge close by.

As of 2007, in West Virginia the counties reporting this species include Braxton, Gilmer, Hancock, Lewis, Monroe, Ohio, Pocahontas, Raleigh, Summers, Taylor, Tucker, and Webster. The ones pictured on this page were photographed in Pendleton and Upshur Counties.

Look for large eyespots joined by a thin line. Behind the eyespots, on the prothorax, there are more large blue markings.

A dorsal view of the eyespots and the pale blue markings on the prothorax (where the head meets the thorax).

On both males and females, some of the key characteristics are large eyespots, and narrow black shoulder stripes.

All images on this page are © Stephen Cresswell.

This site is sponsored by Stephen Cresswell Photography.