Azure Bluet Damselfly

Coenagrion puella — the azure bluet, also called the azure damselfly — is one of the most familiar 'blue damselflies' in temperate Europe and one of the most-encountered Odonata at European ponds and slow streams. The species is widespread across Europe, North Africa, and into central Asia. Adults are 33 mm body length. Males are brilliant azure-blue with dramatic black markings on the abdominal segments (the species' defining feature is the distinctive 'U-shaped' black mark on the second abdominal segment). Females come in three color morphs: a 'normal' green-and-black form (most common), a 'blue' androchromatypic form (mimicking males to avoid harassment), and an 'olive' brown form. The species is one of the most-cited examples of damselfly mating biology and is featured in essentially every European insect biology textbook discussion of Odonata reproduction. The 'mating wheel' or 'tandem wheel' is the species' defining mating posture: males grip the female by the back of the head (the 'pronotum') using terminal abdominal claspers; this 'tandem' position is maintained by the male even before copulation begins. To copulate, the female bends her abdomen forward and upward, attaching her genital opening (at the rear of her abdomen) to the male's SECONDARY GENITALIA located at the BASE of his abdomen (Odonata are unique among insects in having male copulatory organs at the base of the abdomen rather than at the tip — a peculiar arrangement that requires the female to bend her abdomen forward to reach them). The bent-forward female and the upright male together form a circular 'wheel' shape that is one of the most-photographed Odonata behaviors in European macro nature photography. Pairs frequently maintain the tandem position (male gripping female's neck) for extended periods AFTER copulation has finished — the male guards the female from being intercepted by other males during her egg-laying. The species is widespread at well-vegetated freshwater habitats and is a common sight from May through September.