male and female damsels for id please

[Naturenutz]

Found these yesterday,the last damsels i found at this site were identified as azure but im still not sure if these are different . Ill get the hang of them one day

[RoyW]

Hi,

These are both Common Blue Damselflies. Both sexes can be seperated from Azure because they only have one very short black 'stripe' on the side of the thorax (Azure has this 'stripe', which is more of a black dot really, plus a more prominent slightly longer black stripe). The pale 'antehumeral stripes' on top of the thorax are also narrower on Azure than on Common Blue.

Other features include the spine that can be seen under the end of the abdomen on the Common Blue female (not present on Azure) + the male has a black spot (not U shape) on the abdomen, near where the wings join the body, and two completely blue segments at the end of the abdomen (1 1/2 on Azure).

Roy.

[Naturenutz]

thanks very much roy , hopefully next time ill get it right thanks to your help

[RoyW]

Like most things it takes time and experience!

It does get easier once you know what you're looking for though - and remember that they can vary a lot with age, + female damselflies often have several different colour forms.