Stream Bluet

Enallagma exsulans

The Stream Bluet is a small, colorful dragonfly that loves to flutter around streams and ponds. With its bright blue body, it looks like a tiny jewel dancing in the air!

Habitat: Wetlands

Appearance

The Stream Bluet has a slender body, often bright blue in males with distinct black markings on its abdomen. Females are typically duller, ranging from brownish to greenish-tan, making them blend in more with vegetation. Its delicate appearance distinguishes it from stouter dragonflies.

KingdomAnimaliaPhylumArthropodaClassInsectaOrderOdonataFamilyCoenagrionidaeGenusEnallagma

Stream Bluet

Interesting facts

A Stream Bluet spends most of its life underwater as a nymph, breathing through gills in its tail!

Damselflies like the Bluet can fly backwards, which helps them maneuver expertly through tight spaces!

Males 'guard' females while they lay eggs, ensuring no other males try to mate with them.

Unlike dragonflies, Stream Bluets hold their wings neatly folded together over their backs when resting.

Special abilities

Stream Bluet nymphs can ambush prey underwater because of their powerful extendable lower lip that helps them snatch small aquatic creatures.

Stream Bluet adults can dart and hover in the air because of their two pairs of independently moving wings, helping them catch flying insects.

Stream Bluets have large compound eyes that help them spot tiny prey and predators from many angles at once.

Measurements & details

Wingspan: 40-50 mm
Size: 26-32 mm
Lifespan: 365-730 days
Flight Speed: 7 km/h
Leg Count: 6

Diet & Feeding

They are tiny hunters, catching and eating small insects both underwater as nymphs and in the air as adults!

Age differences: Nymphs hunt aquatic insects underwater, while adults catch flying insects in the air.

Primary Foods

mosquito larvae
small aquatic insects
mosquitoes
gnats
flies
midges

Foraging Method

Pursuit

Ecological connections

hunts

Common House Mosquito

Culex pipiens

Adults prey on this common flying insect.

eaten by

Largemouth Bass

Micropterus salmoides

Nymphs are a food source for this freshwater fish.

eaten by

Tree Swallow

Tachycineta bicolor

Adults are preyed upon by these aerial insectivores.

eaten by

American Bullfrog

Lithobates catesbeianus

Both nymphs and adults can be eaten by this amphibian.

Traits

Social

Social animals live in organized groups, cooperating for survival benefits such as foraging, defense, and raising offspring.

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.