Damselfly Larvae

weirdwolf · #1 (**permalink**) 22-04-2009, 03:17 PM

Clearing up some rubbish from my pond earlier today I found two Damselfly larvae I was hoping I could get identified. They were only about 3cm long. I have a few even smaller newly hatched larvae swimming around that seem to be roughly similar.
I'm very sorry for the poor quality of the pictures but the only camera that I had handy was on my DS.

Dogghound · #2 (**permalink**) 22-04-2009, 10:03 PM

They are both nymphs of either Azure or Variable damselflies, but there is not enough detail in the photo to seperate the two.

weirdwolf · #3 (**permalink**) 23-04-2009, 12:10 AM

Thank you, I'm guessing that it would be an Azure Damselfly as they are seem to be the more common species.
Just out of interest how would you tell the two nymphs apart? I seem to be able to find lots of descriptions and pictures of the adults but not much to do with the nymphs.

Dogghound · #4 (**permalink**) 23-04-2009, 10:08 AM

You need to look at the structure of the Caudal lamellae (appendages) to seperate these two, even this is hard as they are so similar.

earthdragon64 · #5 (**permalink**) 29-04-2009, 03:28 PM

There is a book called 'Field Guide to the Larvae and Exuviae of British Dragonflies - Volume 1

ragonflies (Anisoptera)' which was written by Steve Cham and first published in 2007.

I'm hoping that volume 2 will be about Damselflies and will be published soon.