Slender Bluet

Enallagma traviatum

The Slender Bluet is a small, beautiful dragonfly with bright blue colors. They love to flutter around ponds and streams, making them fun to watch as they zoom by!

Habitat: Wetlands

Appearance

The Slender Bluet is a small damselfly with a very slender body. Males are strikingly bright blue with distinct black markings, including a black "wine-glass" or "keyhole" shape on the second abdominal segment. Females are typically duller, appearing greenish or brownish.

KingdomAnimaliaPhylumArthropodaClassInsectaOrderOdonataFamilyCoenagrionidaeGenusEnallagma

Slender Bluet

Interesting facts

Adult Slender Bluets often eat hundreds of mosquitoes and other small flying pests daily!

Most of a Slender Bluet's life is spent underwater as a fascinating aquatic nymph!

Their wings can move separately, allowing them to hover or make super-fast turns in the air!

You can tell male Slender Bluets apart by a unique black "wine glass" pattern on their abdomen!

Special abilities

Slender Bluets have huge compound eyes that help them spot tiny prey and predators from almost every direction.

The Slender Bluet can launch into flight instantly from a perch to chase after prey or quickly escape from danger.

Slender Bluets have tiny claws on their legs that help them cling tightly to plants, even upside down, near water.

Measurements & details

Wingspan: 35-45 mm
Size: 28-35 mm
Lifespan: 30-50 days
Flight Speed: 15 km/h
Leg Count: 6

Diet & Feeding

They are tiny hunters, catching and eating small flying insects or aquatic larvae in the water.

Age differences: Nymphs eat aquatic insects; adults hunt flying insects.

Primary Foods

Mosquitoes
Gnats
Midges
Small flies
Aquatic insect larvae

Foraging Method

Pursuit

Ecological connections

eats

Common House Mosquito

Culex pipiens

Adults and nymphs prey on mosquitoes.

eaten by

Green Frog

Lithobates clamitans

Frogs prey on both adult and nymph damselflies.

hunts

Common Green Darner

Anax junius

Larger dragonflies often hunt damselflies.

depends on

Common Cattail

Typha latifolia

Provides perching sites and habitat for nymphs.

Traits

Solitary

Solitary animals live alone for most of their lives, only interacting with others for mating or parental care.

Aerial

Aerial creatures spend a significant portion of their lives airborne, utilizing flight for various activities such as hunting, migration, or nesting.

Colorful

Colorful describes organisms or objects displaying a wide range of bright and distinct colors.

Insectivorous

This trait identifies organisms whose diet primarily consists of insects and other small invertebrates.

Wetland

This habitat trait identifies species found in wetlands, which are areas of land saturated with water, either permanently or seasonally, including marshes, swamps, and bogs.