double-striped bluet

double-striped bluet (Enallagma basidens) [female]
Photo © Mary Kay Rubey

double-striped bluet (Enallagma basidens) [male]
Photo © Mary Kay Rubey

FEATURES
Double-striped bluet is a tiny bluet with double stripes on the thorax. Spots behind the eye form a narrow, broken line with possible small, isolated dashes at the ends. Male eyes are blue whereas female eyes are tan. In both, the thorax has pairs of middle and side stripes. The male abdomen is blue (mostly tan in females) with a black stripe along the length of the top, and black rings at the ends of each segment. In males, the eighth and ninth segments are entirely blue. In females, the sides of the middle abdominal segments are pale blue with the ninth and tenth segments being brighter and entirely blue.

BEHAVIOR
Males and tandem pairs commonly swarm among vegetation and hover much of the time out over open water. Females lay eggs on floating sedges or submerged vegetation close to the surface of the water, either in tandem or alone after being released by the male. Females can also lay eggs underwater while the male hovers just above the water’s surface. They are found in ponds, margins of lakes, and slow streams with emerging vegetation. They are throughout all of Illinois. Double-striped Bluets can be typically found Southwest ranging from California to Mexico to Colorado. Populations have increased in the East in recent decades, pushing northward and eastward.

​Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Odonata
Family: Coenagrionidae