Beetles, nymphs and a damselfly

[wint]

I haven't looked at the Wikipedia entry but female Azure, Variable, Common Blue (and Southern) Damselflies all show a 'thistle' mark on segment 2. Both Variable and Azure females can show either quite a lot of blue or be almost completely black with just a little blue where the segments join. Azure females never have a bar between the post occular spots whereas Variable females usually do so if you've narrowed it down to Azure/Variable and there's a bar present then it's a Variable. However, the only reliable way of telling them apart is by the shape of the pronotum - the little shield behind the head over the top of the thorax. (If you look at my web page linked in the sig then navigate to Blue Damselfly ID there's some pics with arrows pointing out all the relevant bits)

This one shows a blue-form female Azure with quite a lot of blue while this female shows much less blue.

There are other examples of female Azure in the Gallery but be careful - some of them are incorrectly labelled e.g.
which shows the strongly tri-lobed pronotum of a Variable Damselfly.

I did look on the National Biodiversity Network's Gateway and there are no records of Variable Damselfly in the South Devon Vice County.

HTH

[sebastianbawn]

Thanks Wint, always wondered how you guys Id damselflies so easily! If you are happy to (I would credit you as well) I would like to put a link on our damselfly pages - Home - Pawsforwildlife.co.uk - to your link in the previous post (about how to identify the Blues)

[wint]

Originally Posted by sebastianbawn

Thanks Wint, always wondered how you guys Id damselflies so easily! If you are happy to (I would credit you as well) I would like to put a link on our damselfly pages - Home - Pawsforwildlife.co.uk - to your link in the previous post (about how to identify the Blues)

Yes, please use the link. I can't guarantee it's 100% accurate , though, and if anyone can see any inaccuracies, please let me know. I hope to take a few more usable pics of females this summer to add to the page and perhaps add White-legged.

Cheers

[sebastianbawn]

Thanks Paul I will set that up this week sometime, its a fantastic resource!

[ChrissyMarie]

Originally Posted by sebastianbawn

Thanks Paul I will set that up this week sometime, its a fantastic resource!

I will second that, I spend hours reading without commenting but, just wanted to say that I found that site very helpful. I was even able to go back to some of my not too sure images that I had kept from last year and identify them Thank you