On the farm: Another damselfly

[Saorsa]

I don't recall ever seeing a pinky grey silvery one before.

[James G]

Hi Brian, I think it is an immature female, (Common Blue?)
They tend to be much paler than the final adult form.

Nice capture though!

[Ziggy]

Nice find.

[Wavelength]

Very special !!!!

[Geoff F]

As James mentioned the Common Blues come in several colour forms but that particular colour suggests this is a newly emerged female which will gradually darken into the more familiar appearance.

[Saorsa]

As James mentioned the Common Blues come in several colour forms but that particular colour suggests this is a newly emerged female which will gradually darken into the more familiar appearance.

Thanks to both of you. If the common blue comes in several forms I think I have two here. Is there a gender differentiation here or simply a variation in marking?

[Shadowman]

Nice shot.

[James G]

Brian, I thing you have a common blue male and a Blue-tailed female. I.e. different species. Will check my refs tomorrow.

Sent from my Lenovo TAB S8-50F using Tapatalk

[James G]

I thing you have a common blue male and a Blue-tailed female. I.e. different species. Will check my refs tomorrow.

Brian, rechecked this morning and looked at them on my monitor rather than the tablet. (Much bigger and not so bright since calibrated!)

The first is a Blue tailed damselfly male, not female . The two tone wing spots and the black abdomen with the single colour patch are the clinchers.

The second though is an Azure Damselfly male. The two dots before the black line at the end of the abdomen seem to confirm this. The Common Blue does not have them.

[Geoff F]

I would go for Common Blue not Azure.

Just double checked my books. Wider blue thorax stripe and no 'spur' coming forwards from the rear of the thorax side.

'The Common Blue is very blue' while Azure males are snooker players. They carry a cue (that side spur) wear a bow tie (the small black dots on the side of segment 10 which are just visible from above) and they have an empty beer glass (the black U shape on segment 2).

There are a couple of very small dots on the abdomen end blue rings but that isn't the typical 'bow tie' mark. Also segment 2 has more of a stalked blob on segment 2 instead of the clear U shape of the Azure.

[billtils]

I think it's gender - the upper one is a female.