Familiar Bluet Damselfly

About the Familiar Bluet Damselfly

The Familiar Bluet is the everyday jewel of Texas ponds - a slender damselfly, the male banded in sky blue and black, the female duller tan-and-black, drifting weightlessly among shoreline reeds. True to its name, it is one of the most abundant and widespread damselflies in North America, on the wing in Texas most of the year.

Like all damselflies it folds its wings along its body at rest (dragonflies hold theirs flat), and both stages of its life are predatory - aquatic nymphs ambush tiny invertebrates for months before climbing a stem, splitting their skin, and emerging as winged adults that pluck gnats and midges from the air. Mating pairs form the familiar heart-shaped "wheel" and fly in tandem while the female inserts eggs into submerged plant stems, the blue male standing guard still attached.

Look for Familiar Bluets at nearly any pond, tank, or lake margin in the state, spring through late fall - the little blue needles threading the rushes are usually this species, and they reward a close look through binoculars turned backwards or a macro lens.