variable damselfly variable bluet coenagrion pulchellum

feeding
variable variable


in tandem
variable damselflies
male with blue-form female
variable damselflies
female shows broken thoracic stripes


mating
variable damselfly
male with female blue-form (blue thorax) ...
variable damselfly
... male with female blue-form (blue thorax)
variable damselfly
male with female blue-form (blue thorax) ...
variable damselfly
... male with female blue-form (pale thorax)


ovipositing
variable
eggs are laid into plant tissue or under floating leaves
 variable


portraits

variable damselfly
male






The photo to the left shows the typical male that might be shown in text books. Some of its identifying features are:

-broken thoracic stripes (like an exclamation mark or more amusingly like Dracula's teeth dripping blood)

-s2 shows a wine goblet with a stem

-a line (or a bar) between the eye-spots

-a black shape in s9 that is supposed to resemble a vampire bat!



But, as its name suggests, this species shows much variability.
Please refer to the next section for examples.




imm variable damselfly
immature male
variable damselfly
Female blue-form: The amount of blue in s4 & s5 normally exceeds 30%. Personally, I don't believe this to be a reliable diagnostic (on its own) since I have photos of female azure blue forms that also have this characteristic.
The female's thoracic stripes are usually unbroken.
s2 shows a mercury mark.
variable damselfly
Female blue-form: an immature specimen, with wing(s) in poor shape but it conveniently shows the salient features - pronotum, s2, eye-bar and blue abdominal segments.

I think there is some variability in the female of this species but to a lesser extent than the male (refer to next section).

The female can also be confused with the blue-form of the azure damselfly. The one strong diagnostic that is described in most text books is the shape of the pronotum. This is not the easiest part of the insect to photograph but if it's tri-lobed then it's a variable damselfly, no matter how many irregularities it may exhibit.

The existence of a female dark-form (sometimes referred to as the green-form) is also documented in the text books. Sadly I have not knowingly photographed one of these. However, it seems that it resembles the green form of the female azure damselfly. Again, I imagine that the pronotum would have to come to the rescue.

To complicate matters further at least two text books show examples of a dark (or melanistic) variant of the male.

I think this species is well named!

variable damselfly
male
 variable damselfly
male
variable damselfly
immature male; wiping its eyes with its front legs
variable damselfly
almost fully mature female (still has greenish sides to thorax)
variable damselfly
immature female
variable damselfly
female blue form
 variable damselfly
female blue form


variable damselfly variability

variable
Male: a 'normal' specimen.






I confess to a certain fascination with this species. Other species of blue damselfly show occasional pattern variations but they are more common in the variable damselfly. After all, why has this species been named thus?

From a sample of a few dozen photos of male variable damselflies that I've taken, I notice quite a few differences when comparing them to a field-guide picture, say (shown on the left).

In the photos below I have tried to illustrate a few of these. Each row of three photos highlights one particular aspect. The photos on the far left of each row (outlined in red) are typical 'textbook' pictures and the photos to the right show some variations.

It's worth mentioning that the shape of the pronotum can be used to confirm ID of this species. The pronotum is a small plate that lies between the eyes and the thorax. The pronotum of the variable damselfly has a tri-lobed shape; this is unique within the blue damselfly group. Unfortunately it is not always easy to see the pronotum on a photograph.




variable
This chance photo very conveniently highlights some of the variations noted below. For example, the intensity of the eye-bars, the goblets and the amount of blue colour in lower segments.


goblet

Normally segment 2 shows a figure that resembles a wine goblet. However, the stem of it is sometimes absent or is present but extremely thick.

variable
normal goblet
 variable
missing stem
 variable
thick stem


thoracic stripes

These are shoulder stripes, along the thorax. They are usually broken and resemble exclamation marks. They vary in length and occasionally are unbroken or absent.

variable
typical broken stripes
 variable
unbroken stripes
 variable
very short stripes
 variable
missing stripes


segment pattern

The segment patterns show many variations. The pattern on segment 9 is likened to a vampire bat!

variable
typical lower segments
 variable
usually segment 8 is completely blue (apart from a couple of small black dots); segment 9 is also a bit odd
 variable
this specimen has thin black smears through the centres of some blue segments
 variable
segment 7 looks unfinished!


variable
typical size of blue segments on abdomen
 variable
reduced blue in at least 3 segments
 variable
segments 7 and 9 differ from the 'norm'


eye-bar

The variable damselfly normally shows a pale bar between the eye-spots. In some cases, this is vestigial or even absent. Admittedly it's not always easy to see and may not show up if the light falls in an inconvenient way when the photo is taken.

variable
normal eye-bar
 variable
vestigial eye-bar
 variable
I think you'd say the eye-bar was missing (as well as the goblet stem)


female variables
variable damselfly
Female blue-form: a 'normal' specimen. The photo to the right and the two below show some variations.
variable damselfly
... the mark in s2 is strange.
variable damselfly
... the thoracic stripes are broken. The mark in s2 might be a bit odd.
variable damselfly
... s2 looks more like a thistle. The thoracic stripes look broken.
variable damselfly
not much blue in s4 & s5
 variable damselfly
some black streakiness along abdomen