Blue-tailed Damselfly

Key Sites: Anywhere! Widespread, but not always abundant.

Spotting: The Blue-tailed Damselfly is the smallest dragonfly in the county, and is not similar to any other species in the Northants area. Blue-tailed Damselflies are best observed perched in reeds along the water's edge, as they do not tend to move far from water. Females exhibit a number of colour forms, which make the species probably the most interesting to study as the abundance of these forms changes as individual insects mature. The purple violacea form, is an early colour form that changes to a blue-green andromorph form or a green-brown form called infuscans. The most striking is a pink-red form called rufescens, which again is an early colour form maturing into the yellow-brown rufescens-obsoleta.

County Status: Not threatened, as habitat requirements are wide. Is able to tolerate mild pollution and can breed in the widest range of habitats.