Species Name: Blue-tailed damselfly - Ischnura elegans
Key Facts:
One of Britain's commonest damselflies, usually dark with a blue tail
Habitat: early coloniser of new ponds, tolerating some pollution and brackish water
Common throughout Britain and central Europe
Identification:
Usually dark with blue stripes on the abdomen and blue tail, but females may be green, orange or violet
Flies low down among waterside plants; may also be seen long distances from water; active even in dull weather
Fly from June to August, usually surviving only for a couple of weeks
Life Cycle:
Females lay eggs alone in slits cut in aquatic plants, sometimes late in the day
Larvae live among aquatic plants in shallow water, in the south emerging the following spring
Larvae climb a short way up plant stems before emerging as adults