Scarce blue-tailed damselfly

Scarce blue-tailed damselfly
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Odonata
Suborder:	Zygoptera
Family:	Coenagrionidae
Genus:	Ischnura
Species:	I.pumilio
Binomial name
Ischnura pumilio (Charpentier, 1825)

The scarce blue-tailed damselfly or small bluetail (Ischnura pumilio) is a member of the damselfly family Coenagrionidae.

Immature female

The species occurs throughout Europe except in the north. To the east it occurs from Asia Minor to SiberiaTo the south the range extends to Morocco, the Azores and Madeira' The typical male has a black abdomen with a bright blue spot on tail (segments 8 and 9).^[1] It is very similar to the blue-tailed damselfly, Ischnura elegans but on that species the blue spot is mostly on segment 8.^[2] Females undergo a change of colour as they mature. The immature female is bright orange, the aurantiaca phase, but matures to a greenish-brown.

References

1. British Dragonfly Society. "Ischnura pumilio - Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly".
2. British Dragonfly Society. "Ischnura elegans - Blue-tailed Damselfly".