Two of our commonest Damselflies. Very common in any part of the valley but how do you tell them apart?

You’ll need to get a good close look at the top of the abdomen just below where the wings start. The Common Blue has a black mark here shaped a bit like a Brandy or large wine glass.

The wine glass shape is very different to the one on the Azure Blue. This species has a more bat like mark in the same place.

You can also see there are subtle differences in the pattern all the way down the tail but the two marks discussed are the easiest way to distinguish the two. Another thing to look out for is the fact juveniles and females of both species can be a completely different colour. Here’s a couple of examples of the varients.

As you can see with these examples though the mark at the top of the abdomen is still fairly clear and we can see these are both Common Blues.