Mating Bluet Damselflies

bugman

February 8th, 2010 at 10:01 am

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For your “Bug Love” page…(blue damselflies from Illinois)
February 7, 2010
Hello. I took this picture early this past July on Lake Shabbona in Illinois, near Chicago while on a fishing trip. There were mating pairs of these blue damselflies everywhere, and these two landed right in front of me. They didn’t flinch when I put the camera right up to them. I thought I’d submit it to see if you guys would like to post it on your Bug Love page. Thanks for your time.
Justin M. Fabre
Illinois

damsels mating fabre 300x217 Mating Bluet Damselflies

Mating Bluets

Hi Justin,
Thanks for sending us your wonderful photo of mating Bluets in the genus Enallagma. BugGuide has numerous possible species, and we would defer an exact species identification to an expert. This mating position is called a Wheel or Heart formation. Are you by chance related to Jean Henri Fabre, the French entomologist who lived from 1823 to 1915 and who wrote one of the first popular culture books on insects?

Hi Daniel.
I was happy to submit my photo to WTB. Reading the submissions, responses and seeing the great photos is a lot of fun. I didn’t realize how many different species of Bluets there were until I googled “blue damselfly” just before I submitted it. I’m glad you guys will try to find out. As for a relation to Jean Henri, I’ve wondered myself as it’s possible, but I honestly don’t know. I was away longer than expected this week and finally dug out the external hard drive with the rest of the set that I’ll attach to the email. The top one is the “I (heart) U” shot I submitted. Feel free to use any or all that you wish on the site. Thanks again.
Justin