Friday 20 January 2017

Variable/Azure Damselfly Nymph

I managed to collect a few damselfly nymphs last weekend including 3 obvious Azure Damselfly nymphs with their characteristic pointed tips to the caudal lamellae but one nymph showed well rounded tips to the caudal lamellae which is a feature of the Variable Damselfly nymph. This feature is not totally reliable but a few I have reared in the past few years which I suspected were this species have turned out to be Variable. I get just as much pleasure trying to find and identify the nymphs as I do photographing the adults and exuviae and thankfully over the past few years, my knowledge has continued to grow. A few other features noted in the photos were the dark spots behind the eyes which are shared by the Variable and Azure Damselfly nymphs but these are lacking in the Blue tailed and Common Blue Damselfly. Both the Variable and Azure Damselfly nymphs have 7 segments on the antennae whereas the Common Blue Damselfly has only 6 segments. So you can see, there is enough evidence to at least say that the nymph photographed is a Variable or Azure Damselfly nymph and I would like to believe that it is Variable. Both Azure and Variable Damselflies occur in the area where this one was collected but only time will tell when it emerges in the summer. Weather and time permitting, I will hopefully return over the weekend to see what else can be found, collected and hopefully photographed before the camera goes in to be fixed. 

Dark Spotting behind the Eyes 


More rounded Tip to the Caudal Lamellae 





'Probable' Variable Damselfly Nymph

8 comments:

  1. A totally fascinating experience. Great detailed images Marc.

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    1. Many thanks Bob. It passes the winter away until the season gets going.

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  2. Brilliant images of the Nymph Marc.

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  3. Amazing detail Marc,combined with interesting facts,great research.
    Hope all goes well with your camera fix.
    John.

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    1. Many thanks John. Hopefully it won't cost that much and take too long to fix.

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  4. Superb detail in these images, Marc. Thank you, also, for the information in this post. Hopefully, some of it will stay lodged in my rapidly diminishing collection of brain cells.

    Best wishes - - - Richard

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    1. Thanks Richard. There's another world to learn about with these. All the more interesting though.

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